


The Starry Maiden

by LadySonolia



Category: Assassin's Creed - All Media Types
Genre: Adventure, Adventure & Romance, Assassin's Creed: Odyssey, Assassin's Creed: Revelations, Don’t copy to another site, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Isu Technology (Assassin's Creed), Modern Assassins (Assassin's Creed), Time Travel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-21
Updated: 2021-03-05
Packaged: 2021-03-09 06:40:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 24
Words: 139,155
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27129364
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadySonolia/pseuds/LadySonolia
Summary: Astraea has lived a pretty standard life. She has just graduated from her bachelor's degree and is ready to go on to her master's. Although, she gets blindsided by a huge change. She is flung into the past and has no way back home, her only wish is to see her family again. But how would they react to the things she's had to do? Only time will tell.
Relationships: Yusuf Tazim/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 67
Kudos: 15





	1. Planes, Trains, and Italian Scenery

**Hello! I will be posting the first two chapters of this new story together!**

**If you have any constructive critiquing I'm more than happy to listen. Just bear in mind if you decide to critique that I only write as a hobby for my own enjoyment.**

**I hope you enjoy!**

**Thanks!**

**Disclaimer, I do not own Assassin's Creed or any of it's content or characters. I do own any original characters that appear.**

* * *

I check myself in the mirror, wiping away a couple of mascara smudges from around my forest green eyes. But my hair has gone into disarray… I try to flatten out the warm blonde frizz with absolutely zero success. I should have listened to my gut when I thought about putting my mini hair oil in my bag before we left the hotel room. That hair oil is some kind of miracle… It can turn my frizzy mess of honey blonde hair into a semi-attractive collection of loose, wavy curls.

I step back to try and get a better look at myself in the small bathroom mirror. I maybe should have thought about taking a backup shirt with me… I bit my lip as I look up and down the person in the mirror, I feel a twinge of that victory that I had initially felt upon seeing my goal weight on the scale. And to think that all it took was two years of consistent hard work and a total diet overhaul. I hadn't really been bothered by my weight, but I had to draw the line once it started to get in the way of my everyday life. That was one of the hardest things for me to ever admit to myself… I hadn't ever considered myself to be fat… Only a little on the heavier end… So, when I had to admit to myself that it was getting out of hand, it really took a toll on how I saw myself in the mirror… Or when I was having a bath, or putting on that pair of pants that fit just last month...

And there is no way I could have achieved anything without Vee… She helped me every step of the way too. Far beyond what I had expected of her… She had even helped me by introducing me to the people that coached me in all the skills that my parents had fostered when I had been younger. All the classes that my parents had sent me to that I had given up on back when I became more interested in art were now fully realized skills. Like the mixed martial arts classes, along with some varied other fighting skills, some fencing and basic swordplay, shooting in both archery and guns, and parkour. Most of which had come back to me as easily as I had originally gained them, despite the years of those skills going completely unused.

And now, looking in that mirror, instead of the effort not to dwell on my looks I find myself smiling that the person in the reflection. Sure I may not be the perfect model of body weight, with the remaining pudge around my stomach, chin, and thighs, but simply the fact that I can look in the mirror and smile is something I never felt before this point. And now, when I take a bath, I can focus on relaxing instead of thinking about my body. And the pants don't fit because they fall off if there isn't a belt.

"Alright. Let's go." I say to encourage myself.

I step out of the bathroom to find a scene that is pretty typical of my sister being… Well, anywhere, really. Venus simply attracts this… A group of attractive looking Italian men are standing around her chatting her up, most likely inviting her to party at night. I can already see where this is going over the next few minutes here. She is very charismatic, so naturally, she easily draws this kind of attention. She is usually very graceful about it as well…

God, my parents could not have named her more perfectly. Venus, the Roman goddess of beauty, and my sister lives up to her name… Vee is gorgeous head to toe. She has sleek platinum blonde hair that seems to be consistently, flawlessly cascading down her back. She has rich, azure eyes and even without makeup her face looks nearly flawless. And her petite frame with slightly toned muscles contribute to her having the most coveted body type in modern terms.

Me? I don't really know… Astraea… The starry maiden, a lesser known Greek goddess of justice. Daughter of Astraeus, the titan god of dusk, and Eos, the titan goddess of dawn. Astraea was said to have stayed among men longer than all the other immortal gods, and when she left the world of man, Zeus placed her among the stars in the constellation Virgo. They named me that for the fact that the night I was born had been an amazingly clear night full of stars with the constellation Virgo just reaching the peak of its trek across the sky. I can't say I've ever really felt any kind of affinity towards her.

She spots me walking towards her and smiles, and I can see her get their attention and begin to talk. Most likely telling them that her sister is just on her way back… As I near I can hear that she is in fact getting ready to introduce me once I get closer.

"… my younger sister, Astraea…" I really wish she wouldn't tell all the strange men my name. It's not like any of them are going to suddenly fall for me like they do for her. I see them all turn in my direction, eyes scanning the crowds I just waded through towards them. Predictably, every single pair of eyes simply passes over the plain-Jane approaching them, looking for what must be the supremely attractive younger sister of the babe they're fawning over. When, in reality, I am pretty average. I don't have that easy magnetism that she exudes from every pore. Even her five feet and three inches gives her this extra adorable factor. Where for me my five feet and seven inches only adds to my averageness.

She bounds forward and links arms with me, "This is her! See! She's so much taller than I am… Raea, these guys were just inviting me to a party tonight! I asked and they said it should be fine for you to come too!" She glows, she thinks the best of me, and I love her for it…

They go from a visible excitement, eyes wide and darting through the crowd… To narrowed eyes evaluating the less than ideal woman now being presented to them. Perfectly typical reaction of this kind man to me. Especially when being introduced by Vee. Probably because they were expecting someone who looks remotely like her, i.e. drop-dead gorgeous.

It has certainly improved from the previous reactions of borderline disgust that used to greet me upon introduction by Venus. My weight distribution has always been atypical so even when I was heavier, I could hide it pretty well most days, but not enough to be attractive. Usually the squishy lumps were all too visible if I wasn't actively sucking it all in… Now I am but 175 pounds and a good portion of that is actually muscle mass now. Even if they are, according to my brothers, 'soft muscles', which they undoubtedly said mostly to tease me. Although, I do still have more of a tummy than the average girl, especially girls like Venus.

As for the guys currently in front of us? I can hear them not-so-whispering to each other in Italian, they don't know I understand most it. And they are not saying nice things, it isn't as venomous as it would have been at my previous weight, but I guess I'm just not their cup of tea. They probably were looking for a supermodel bodied girl. I make out that one of them is pretty sure bringing me to aforementioned party would basically discredit them. Resulting in no further invitations to subsequent parties.

However, unfortunately for them… Vee also knows enough Italian to understand the gist of they are saying. I look over at her and I can see the expression on her face changed from jovial and borderline innocence to unbridled rage. One of the guys notices this, and elbows his neighbour, who looks at Vee. I can practically see the gears turning in his head as he comes to the conclusion that she can not only understand Italian but must also have heard everything he and his neighbour were whispering.

"Do not ever approach me again." She hisses at the lot of them, as she tugs me around and she marches down the cobbled street tugging me along beside her. Sometimes, I think she is touchier about my body than I am, being that lately I only seem to see my improvements from what I had been to now…

But I will forever be grateful to my most adamant defender.

* * *

"I can _not_ believe them. I was talking to them and they had said that… That they didn't care much about body types. That they can _look past the surface_!" She makes a mocking impression of the Italian guys and then clicks her tongue making the _tsk_ sound, "Maybe if the surface was a puddle you could step in without getting your shoes wet!" Vee has been venting out the bathroom door in the hotel room for almost a whole hour. She even did it while she was showering. This is one of the things I love so much about Vee… She defends me so completely… "I mean _really_! You have lost so much weight since… I really thought that maybe things with males would change too… I'm sorry Raea… Please know I think you are beautiful."

"Hey, it doesn't really bother me anymore." She steps out of the bathroom with her hair in a towel, toothbrush in hand, "I know how much work we both put into this and we certainly got the results." I gesture to my body.

"I know… But that isn't the point. I'm just so sick of that kind of guy only talking to me until you come and then acting as if you're some kind of heinous monster."

"Like I'm your duff, you mean?" I see her clench the toothbrush in her fist hard enough for her knuckles to go white for a second.

"Yes. They literally treat you like the literal definition of a duff. You're not even fat or ugly at all!" She stuffs the toothbrush into her mouth and begins to aggressively brush her teeth. She is usually pretty articulate… But when she gets riled up, sometimes she loses her finesse…

"I mean… My hair did kind of look like a disaster there for a while… All that humidity in that cramped, slanted staircase to get to the top of the dome really did a number on the frizz level… Not to mention the level of sweat I produced. I guess it was worse than I thought if I looked like a monster." I hear a snort from the bathroom, followed by some grunts of pain. After a few minutes Vee staggers out of the bathroom.

"You made me spew toothpaste water. Out. My. Nose. That _really_ hurt!" I could see that her eyes were still watering. She goes back into the bathroom to finish up while I do my best not to burst out in laughter.

I finish repacking my suitcase, stuffing in my newest additions. We have been touring Italy from north to the south for almost two months now after starting in late August, just after my twenty-fifth birthday. Our next big stop is Naples, we leave for there in the morning. We are planning to stay in Naples for a while and during that time we'll visit the island of Capri for a day, Pompeii, Herculaneum, and a few other choice locations. Vee had taken the entire three months off of work to go touring with me to celebrate my graduation from my bachelor's degree. Our mom wasn't able to get any time off, but she did end up having some business in Naples, so she says she managed to get a few days off while we will be there to tour around the area with us, including our day trip to Capri. As for our dad and other siblings their respective jobs have kept them very busy and won't even be able to join us at all.

"Mum _is_ meeting us in Naples, right?"

"Yep. She's coming to Capri with us, but she wants to join us for our tour of Pompeii too." She says without leaving the bathroom.

"Cool, that'll be great." I set my suitcase back onto the floor, ready for my pyjamas to join my other things inside in the morning before it gets zipped and locked up for the train ride to Naples. I very purposefully place my keys to my luggage lock on the table. I don't want to have to buy _another_ luggage while I'm travelling.

Another? Whatever could you mean? Well. Let me inform you as to what happens when things get hairy on travel stuff.

So. We had gotten onto the train to our next stop on our tour. This train ride took us through some very lovely scenic mountain towns. But. After one of these mountain towns the train suddenly stopped. Then we start coasting backwards… I had been a little alarmed and Vee had mostly just been curious.

Then we sat. And we sat. And we sat some more. Then the sun set. Then we sat. Then _finally_ we were told that only people going all the way to the end location, i.e. our stop, would be continuing. They had everyone get off the train. Then there was confusion. So everyone got back _on_ the train. Then more confusion, so everyone got back _off_ the train. Then we were told as riders going to the end destination to go to the front cars. So off we go to the front cars, where all the seat numbers were adjusted to reflect the seat numbers matching the tickets. But alas, we get to our seats and the Canadian couple who had been sitting across from us were in out seats. Why? Well, because a group of guys had just gotten back on and sat where they had been sitting before, not realizing that the seats had changed numbers. It caused a whole hullabaloo, but it did all get straightened out in the end.

Then we were on the tracks and moving again. Fast-forward to us arriving and needing to catch a cab. Well, so did everyone else on the train, because we arrived in the city at a lovely one o'clock in the morning. An hour later, we were _finally_ in a cab on the way to the hotel. We check in and go up to our space, for this section we had actually ended up with some kind of suite with a little kitchenette. We'll get to why this is important in a minute.

We settle at our beds and I go to my backpack to fetch my luggage keys. Only… I couldn't find them. I dumped the whole bag out while Venus had gone to wash her face before bed. Nope. No keys… I thought that I must have dropped them somewhere… Maybe in all that off and on at the train…

I remember Venus' face when I told her I couldn't find my luggage keys. She tried to reason with me to just sleep in my clothes, but I was tired and was not wanting to sleep in clothes that I had been seating in all day long. She didn't even say anything back.

What did she do? Well. That kitchenette? She went over to it and started opening drawers until she got what she wanted. A nice long, sharp kitchen knife. Why a knife? So that she could go over to my suitcase, shank it, and saw the knife down one side of the suitcase and tear it open.

Problem solved. Until morning when I had to go buy a new suitcase.

I chuckle at the memory; I had never seen Venus so completely done with anything before.

I hold my new skirt up in front of me as I stand in front of the mirror. I hope I still feel bold enough to wear this tomorrow… Vee said it looked fantastic when I tried it on, but now I'm not so sure… I have been gratified that I have lost enough weight that I can even get something this pretty on, but I'm still not totally sold on this skirt… I've never _felt_ pretty enough to wear something so feminine. I fish the yoga shorts out and put them on top of my suitcase with the skirt, and the shirt and camisole combo I plan on wearing tomorrow.

"Alright, all done now. Your turn, you gonna have a shower?" Vee steps out of the bathroom and puts her bathroom bag on top of her suitcase.

"Hmmm… Yeah, I think so… St. Peter's was ludicrously hard. I sweated up a storm…" I pinch the front of my shirt and pull it away from me, "My poor shirt will never be the same…" Venus laughs at the comment and adds her own.

"Your telling me! I thought my legs would give out!"

"I know, right!" We both chuckle as I head into the bathroom and close the door.

"I'm just going down to the lobby to grab a couple of snacks; I won't be long." Vee says from the other side of the door.

"Oki doki." I answer to the door as I close the shower curtain and turn on the water.

I let the shower wash away the day, and when I get out Vee is already back and watching a show on the TV. We chatter about our plans for the next few days until we both decide to go to sleep and turn off our lights.

It takes some time to hush my brain from the excitement of meeting up with mom, but eventually I manage to slip into sleep.

* * *

_I look towards the horizon; the storm is getting darker…_

_A burst of lightning streaks across the sky._

_I'm falling towards the turbulent surface of the sea, and the waves swallow me. The currents of the water grab me like a strong pair of hands, and they pull me deeper and deeper. The grip of the water only getting stronger the further it takes me._

_The lightning shooting across the skies gets darker as the sea pulls me further below the surface. I reach upwards, grasping to reach the air again, when a shining winged figure in emerald and gold robes reaches down towards me. Our hands touch for a moment in a bright flash._

_Then everything goes black around me._

* * *

"Hey… Are you alright?" I open my eyes to see Venus' face lit up by her bedside lamp, "You were gasping like you couldn't breathe or something…"

"Yeah… I'm okay. It was a nightmare… I think…" Was I in the sea, maybe? I try to remember the dream I just had, but the harder I try the further away it seems to get. And there's seems to be nothing I can do to stop it from slipping away.

"What was it about?" She sits back down on the edge of her bed, "It seemed bad…"

"I… don't remember…" I try again, I think there was a storm… And… Nope. It is really gone… All that remains is a sense of unease… And the sensation of something holding onto me and taking me far away.

"That's unusual for you. Most of the time you remember the tiniest details from your dreams."

"Yeah… Oh well, if I woke you up from it, maybe it's better off forgotten…" She shrugs, slips back under her covers, and turns off her light. I said that… But I don't know if I really believe it.

"Goodnight, Raea."

"Night, Vee…" I roll over and curl up under my covers and I wrap my arms around myself for comfort. It takes a while to shake the uneasy feeling left from the dream, but eventually I manage to slip into a dreamless black sleep.

* * *

"I'm sorry you two, I know I promised to go on that Pompeii tour. But this is _really_ important." Mom spouts as she walks towards the car that had arrived to pick her up, slipping the cellphone into her pocket. Her strawberry blonde waves bouncing behind her as she walks away.

"No worries, Mom. Let me know if you can join us later on for supper or not." Vee waves her phone at mom.

"We'll see you later, mom!" I really want to say something else and I'm annoyed that I haven't been able to spend as much time with her as possible, but I'm not a child, and I was already aware that she was in Naples for work. So, predictably, even though she had said that she had arranged for some uninterrupted time to spend with us… She hasn't spent more than thirty minutes straight with us the past four days.

She waves one last time before sliding into the back seat of the car.

"I was really looking forward to spending some time with her… It feels like its been ages since we were able to spend time together." I feel my shoulders slump a little bit and Vee puts a hand on one.

"Don't worry, you'll be able to spend time with her later." She smiles at me, "Plus, we have to get going to that tour bus! We don't want to miss the tour of Pompeii right!" She nudges my shoulder with her fist, "You _are_ an architecture nerd after all, right?"

"Well, only surface, really." I chuckle, "That was only part of my double major." I double smack my chest, "At my CORE I am an art nerd! Although… That just makes Pompeii all the more interesting to me. There are some of the best-preserved Roman paintings in Pompeii from having been covered in ash so quickly!" Pompeii and Herculaneum of course but Herculaneum is for another day.

"NERD!" Vee teases as we begin to stroll to the bus.

We walk to the meeting point of the tour which is supposed to be just a few blocks away from here. Which was a key factor in choosing this tour over some of the other tours.

We take a few turns and the whole way to the bus is exactly how you'd expect the streets of an Italian city to look. With the potted plants on most of the rails just outside of the windows with open shutters. The narrow cobble stone street is lined with small cars and mopeds parked in pretty much any spot that would accommodate them. One of the more ornate buildings has a garden on the rooftop.

Vee and I chat about little things, but mostly I just absorb the surroundings. The sounds of the people laughing and chatting as we pass a small café bustling with the morning crowd. A couple comes from a side street and crosses the street holding hands. I spot the woman look down at their joined hands and smile. A part of me feels as though I witnessed something that was meant to be private, but the other part of me can't help but see the expression of how in love she looks. _That's so amazing…_ Part of me feels so happy that two people are in love that way. There is also the part of me that seeing it causes my heart to clench, wishing I could know what she's feeling. But there is also somewhere in my heart that tells me it's not something I will ever have.

We turn down a side street to see a suddenly high volume of tourists signalling that we had arrived at the location of the meeting point for our tour.

"I have the papers, so I'll go sign us in with the tour guide." Vee volunteers.

Vee goes over to the person holding the big sign to sign us in and then we wait to load the bus.

The whole time my thoughts lingering on the couple enjoying a morning stroll together.

* * *

I know that Venus said I shouldn't go out on my own… But that is literally her just treating me like a juvenile. And she knows how much I hate that. I'm twenty-five now. I don't need a babysitter. Not to mention that I now have a fully honed arsenal of martial arts and the body that can use them properly… Unlike four years ago when I hit my worst weight… Sure I had known all the martial arts, but I was out of practice and certainly not in any shape to use it for more than maybe a minute.

I stroll down the dark street; I hear laughter coming from a pub on the next corner. I pull the strap of my bag further onto my shoulder and continue my walk down to the beach that I found on my maps app. I had been simply sitting in the hotel room, putzing on the internet… Doing nothing in particular, until I had looked over and spotted my little travel sketchbook just sitting on the desk in the corner of the room.

And with Vee gone to that party, it was the perfect opportunity to take some time to myself to draw.

I spot the top of a church just down the street at the next turn, the cross lit up at its peak. _Hmm…_ _Most churches around here have something interesting to them,_ so I stroll in that direction since I have no real timeline on when to get to the beach.

The outside of the church surprises me with its Greek styled pediment being held up by beautiful Ionic style columns. I look across the street to see a perfectly placed cement block jutting out from the base of the fence blocking off the train tracks. I head over to it and sit myself down in front of the church to draw the pediment and the columns for a few minutes.

Once I had finished at the church, I had moved down the street and found other cool buildings to draw and I just kept going at it until I feel my pocket buzz with a message from on my phone.

Vee 3 – _Where are you?_

_You're not in the hotel room…_

_Are you okay?_

Oops… It's 12:30 am… I've been strolling and drawing for two hours… And I haven't even gotten to that beach yet…

I answer Vee that I'm on my way back to the hotel right away, so she doesn't worry too much. But she is _not_ going to be pleased that I left without even leaving a note for her or anything…

Sure enough… She had a real earful for me. She was worried that I had been abducted or something. Although, I'm not really sure what anyone would want with me… I'm pretty average.

Afterwards, Vee went and had a shower. She may have lectured me, but I could tell how worried she had been at coming back to an empty hotel room… I had been planning to be back before her, but then I got so carried away with my drawing.


	2. The Storm

"Are you sure about this…?" I ask Venus from inside the bathroom.

"Yes. 100% sure. Now get your beautiful butt out here to show me." I take a breath and exit the bathroom with my new high-waisted skirt on. It comes down only just above my knees and a little lower in the back… The fabric is beautiful with the black background and the peony floral pattern. It works fantastically with the deep forest green flowing sleeveless blouse we paired it with. Venus gives me an appraising look, "You know… I think it'll look better with the shirt tucked into the top of the skirt." Venus comes up to me and tucks in the bottom of the loose blouse, fluffing it up a little so it has some room for movement. While doing this Venus spots that I have put yoga shorts on underneath the skirt and one of my favourite nylon and lacey camisole in a similar dark green under the top. _Whatever makes her more comfortable wearing the outfit, I guess._

"I don't know Venus… This skirt is a little shorter than the other one…" I tug a little at the front hem of the skirt.

"If you're wearing the shorts underneath you should be fine, right?" I look at Venus sheepishly, "At least with the yoga shorts there isn't any texture or shape coming through. And if it makes you more comfortable, do it." Venus pulls her phone out of her pocket, "But it's too late to second guess. Mom is waiting for us downstairs. We have to go now…" Venus whips around grabs her bag and I pull mine off the chair. We go to the door of the hotel room and as Venus opens the door, I take once last look in the mirror. I smooth out the flowing fabric of the skirt and follow Venus to the door and out into the world.

* * *

"Be careful now!" As much as I love my mom… I do _not_ need her to coddle me.

"Don't worry, mum. I'll make sure she doesn't go too far." My older sister jokingly says to mom loud enough for me to hear, knowing how much it irritates me to be treated like a child. And they _all_ do it. I have my mom, my dad, my sister, Mesonyx, twin brothers, Aquilo and Zephyr, and one more sister, Venus... All siblings are older than me with Venus closest to me in age. But that makes six people who all treat me like a juvenile. Six! Despite the fact that I am, in fact, completely finished my bachelor's degree with a double major.

"You guys are acting like I'm eight years old and wandering off into the deep, dark woods all alone." I sit down on the boulder poking out of the river that I managed to clamber over to, the water rushing all around me, "I _am_ old enough to take care of myself…" I look over to see my mom and sister sharing a laugh on the shore. I roll my eyes and pull out my camera. The way the light is sparkling off the river's rushing waters, and how the forest swallows the river further down is _just_ perfect. I want to preserve it so I can paint it myself later on.

I take a deep breath in; this whole day has been fantastic. My mom is finally in attendance with us, we had a great lunch on the island, and mom, Venus and I are even going to go shopping later on once we return to Naples.

"Alright, did you get your picture?" Venus impatiently shouts at me.

"Yes, I did…" I slowly stand up and take a step back to the shore.

"Great! Let's get back to the docks so we can catch that ferry back to Naples!" Right… Venus had that party she had been invited to while we were waiting to board the ferry in the morning. She may be a few years older than I am, but she has always been more of a partier than I am.

"Okay, okay…" I hop over the bigger gap in the stones. One of them shifts under my weight and I hear my mom shout in shock at me catching my balance. Luckily, I am decently agile and did _not_ fall into the river. Agility seems to be something that my whole family seems to have in abundance.

"Do _not_ scare me like that, Astraea!" She walks up to me hands on her hips as I walk towards them over the grass. It is a wonder that she isn't thoroughly examining me top to bottom, but I can see her hands move to wringing in front of her with the effort not to.

"Sorry, mum. But you know I have better balance than to fall into the river from that."

"Yes, I suppose I _do_ know that." I smile at her and mom smiles back as she begins to walk back up the slope to the road where the rented bicycles wait for us to return them to the rental place near the ferry to get back to Naples from our day visit to Capri island.

We leave the bicycles with the rental service and get in line to board the ferry once it's ready. Vee decides to go freshen up in the bathroom for a few minutes, so I decide to lose myself out the windows looking out at the ferry docked a few piers down. Ahead of us is a family of five, parents and three kids… Three very… Excited kids. They are running around their evidently exhausted parents. After hearing them discussing what to do about their hyper children I realized they are British tourists.

The dad picks up a little girl in an adorable pink dress, he tickles her, and she giggles uncontrollably before hugging her dad. I look over to see my mom smiling at the family. But the smile seems sad, I wonder if it is because we never did stuff like that as a family… We travelled locally as a family but never really took an international vacation, despite my parents often being abroad for work. Maybe that affected her more than I know.

I gaze out the window, watching the seagulls zip around the harbour and the people in uniforms walking back and forth on the ferry to prepare it for us to embark to take our ride back to Naples.

"You know… You have always been like that." Mom says to me, I look back over to her.

"Like what?" She smiles more fully now, with a sparkle in her jade green eyes.

"Well, ever since you were a tiny baby, fresh home from the hospital, you always just watched. You would observe _everything_. More than once I found myself checking on you because you were so quiet… Your sisters and brothers, _especially_ your brothers, had always been so loud. I always knew where and how they were without having to ask… So, when you came along and would just quietly sit there watching everything going on around you, I didn't even know how to handle it at first. But after a while we just got used to it, you always let us know when something was wrong with you…" She put her hand on my cheek, "God… I can't believe you're twenty-five now… I'm sorry we weren't able to spend your birthday together this year… Work has been a nightmare."

"That's okay, mum. Vee made sure it was an awesome twenty-fifth birthday." Then Vee prances back over to us.

"You are still my beautiful ray of light…" Mom looks at me with glowing eyes and a proud smile.

"Thanks, mom. I love you too." And then I go back to looking out the window until I see someone lean sideways to let someone else pass.

That person is an extremely good-looking guy a few people ahead of the family. Dark hair, and from what I can tell dark eyes. Tall too… I look over a few more times between conversation with mom and Vee. I always try not to look too much, because unlike with Vee, if I were to be caught looking it wouldn't end with the guy coming over and flirting with me… It would end with the guy walking away at a brisk pace to get away from the creepy staring person.

Once we get onto the ferry, we go into one of the inside areas to find a section of seats to sit down in for the trip back to Naples. Luckily, we are even able to snatch up on the spots with a table. Near the back end of the ferry. _I know there's a real name for it, but I cannot for the life of me remember what it's called…_

"Once we get back to Naples, we'll go get those new clothes! And maybe even a dress for you to show off your curves at the party tonight!" Venus waggles her eyebrows at me, once again attempting to convince me to join her at the party that she was invited to by the guys who had been flirting shamelessly at the docks in Naples.

"Nice try. But unlikely… We would have to find _some_ dress to make me want to go to your party." Her eyes light up, "Wait…"

" _That_ sounds like a challenge!" She exclaims excitedly.

"No no no…"

"And I accept!" She slaps her hand down on the table, startling the couple passing by us towards a table further down.

"Scusi…" My mom says to them before giving Vee _the_ look.

We chat about little things for a while until the ferry is well away from the dock.

"I'm going to head on over to the washroom… I'll be back in a bit, but I might head on deck for a while to get a few pictures too." I fish my camera pouch out of my shoulder bag and leave the bag on the booth with my mom.

"Sure Raea, just make sure to come back before we get to the dock in Naples. I don't want to be saddled carrying your bag of bricks…" Mom smiles as I get up and walk down the hall to door where the little washroom picture is leading me. Which actually just leads to another hallway… Ah, but at the end of the hallway is my destination. I start walking down the hall when another door opens and someone in a deep hood strides out and walks straight into me.

"Oh, sorry…" God, how Canadian of me… I roll my eyes at myself. Person walks into me and _I'm_ the one apologizing…

"No, I should have been more paying attention. Pardon me." He sidesteps, nods briskly, and goes through the door that I had come from.

Once I finish in the washroom, I go and grab a drink from a vending machine before heading out onto the deck outside. Once I find a door out to the deck of the ferry I pull my camera out of its camera pouch. I start at the front of the ferry snapping shots of Vesuvius as it gets slowly gets closer. Taking my time, I move down the side of the railing where I can start to photograph the landmass of Italy as it goes by the side of the ferry.

Sure enough, the view is fantastic, from this side I can just see Sorento with some stunning atmospheric effects from the humidity coupled with the pristine skies. I snap a few shots and then just admire the view for a little bit. That is until I look over to see a dark-haired man arrive and lean onto the railing just a couple feet away from me. Oh my God… That's the guy that I saw in the line up earlier. I start pack up my camera to go to another part of the ferry so that I am not disturbing what I'm sure he hopes to be a private moment to watch the land as we finish passing the closer part of land that hosts Sorrento.

"I noticed you taking some pictures… But if you go to the other side of the ferry you might still catch a view of _Isola d'Ischia_. As long as it isn't too far away." I stop putting my camera away out of shock. I think he just spoke to me… I turn to look to the other side of me to see if maybe there was someone there that he could be talking to… But nope. Just me and him. Judging from his voice, he definitely is Italian, but his English is pretty damn good. I slide my hands over the fabric of my skirt, feeling supremely self-conscious, and suddenly unsure of whether I should have worn the skirt or if I should have just gone with my capris...

"Thanks… I guess I should go… Uh, check out that view…" I bite my lip and step back from the railing, and the man steps back as well and smiles. This guy is jaw-droppingly gorgeous. Especially with how strong his shoulders look underneath the jacket he is wearing… _Nope. Stop it._

"Would you mind having some company?" He scratches the back of his neck.

"But you just got over here to see Vesuvius, didn't you?"

"No, I was just sitting inside watching Vesuvius get closer and thought to get some fresh air… Then I spotted you taking your photos…" The image of the woman admiring the place where her hand was joined with that of her significant other floats through my mind.

"Oh… Well, I don't mind if you come along… But are you sure… Well… that you don't…" I look at his deep, warm brown eyes.

"Have something better to do?" He chuckles the sound is smooth and relaxing, "No, I'm meeting my brother in Naples to help him set up for his big party… But for now? I think this would be a wonderful use of my time..." I wonder if he saw me with Venus... He probably wants to invite her to that party he just mentioned… I wonder if I'll have to break it to him that she's already had her evening booked?

"Huh… Well then… I guess… Um… I'm Astraea." I start walking and he comes along. _What am I even supposed to do in this situation?!_

"I'm Darin, it is a pleasure to meet you." He actually takes a couple of quicker steps before falling into pace next to me, at least until we come across a crowded area where he chooses to walk right behind me.

When we get around the front of the ferry, I get distracted by the view in front of us with Vesuvius getting larger by the minute, and I slow down to admire it. There are a few clouds hovering around it now, they look fluffy and lazy just floating near the volcano like that. Then I remember that I'm not alone and look over to see Darin admiring the view as well. Before I can stop my hands, I snap a quick photo of the seascape and Vesuvius, with him near the left edge of the photo. I imagine he is just looking for a way to pass the time of the ferry ride until we arrive in Naples again. I wonder if he has a girlfriend waiting for him at the docks with his brother…

I better not flirt just in case…

Not that I even know how to flirt in the first place… Or… How to tell if someone if flirting with me… What if he's flirting with me and I don't even know it?

We continue our walk around the ferry and get to the side where we can only just see the island north of Capri… Ischia. It is breathtaking…

"So… Are you a photographer?" He asks as he turns to face me.

"Kind of, I suppose… But I mostly take photos so that I can paint them later on…"

"So, you're a painter… And you're in Italy for the scenery then?"

"Well… Partly… I have actually been touring from north to south with my sister. Enjoying the scenery is part of the perk package…" I was hoping that by bringing up Vee he might just skip all this and get to asking about inviting her to that party… But… He doesn't… And we just continue to chat. At one point I slip my camera into its pouch and let it hang off my wrist.

I completely lose track of the time while we chat aimlessly, until I notice that Ischia seems to have moved closer to the front of the ferry instead of straight out the side… Have we changed directions?

"Wait… Isn't this ferry supposed to be going straight to Naples?"

"Yes, that is the idea…" He follows where I had been looking and realizes the same thing I did… That we seem to have changed course. "I'll go see if I can find a crew member to ask about what is going on…"

He goes into the ferry through a door labeled 'Restricted Access,' and I speed walk back the way we came. While there had been more than a few people admiring the views on their way over to see the north view, now the deck seemed devoid of people.

The sun is glistening on the waters and I can see the tips of the higher land of the Italian coast to the north-east. But coming around the other side of the ferry I am greeted with a completely different view. Where I just left the sunny comfortable weather, I take in the view of an ominous looking storm closing in on us quickly, darkening the skies. The storm has already swallowed the view that I had only just photographed, the land of the Italian coast and Vesuvius are gone to the black clouds coming right at us. Anxiety fills my gut as I hear shouting from above me. An announcement goes over the intercom in Italian first, I may have been able to understand if the intercom nearest to me wasn't sounding so garbled and broken.

The ferry is turning away from the storm, but the clouds seem to be moving impossibly fast… And they say the weather changes quickly in Alberta…

I hear the unmistakable sound of a gleeful child, shouting laughter and pounding feet coming around the corner I had just come around myself. This is followed by the sounds of parents shouting just out of reach. Just as I see a little girl in the pink dress come ripping around the corner, I feel a lurch as this side of the ship tips towards the stormy sea water. A sharp pain in my shoulder as I slam into the metal rail at the edge of the deck.

"ISLA!" I hear a woman shriek followed by the sound of a small scream and a splash. I stand holding onto the railing for balance and I look over the edge of the ferry. Amidst the waves I see a small spot of pink in the water not far from the side of the boat. "ISLA! NO!" The woman, the little girl's mother, wails over the edge as her husband grips her and their other two children tightly to the railing of the ferry. One of the other children, another little girl is wailing sobs into her father's side.

I watch for a moment and see a wave crash over the little girl's head, she can't swim alone long enough to be saved… The parents are holding on tightly to their other two children… I can hear shouting all over the ship, but no one is here yet…

I clench my jaw, another wave crashes over the little girl. I take a breath and hurl myself over the edge of the railing before letting myself think any longer on it.

"Astraea!" I hear someone above shout just before I hit the water.

I swim up to the surface and look for the little girl.

"ISLA! Where are you?!"

"HELP!" I barely hear the little voice over the crashing of the waves and the growing rumbles of thunder. I spin myself around and see the little girl get swallowed by a wave that is coming right at me. I take a breath and dive into the wave to get to the little girl. I reach her just as she slips under the water again and I pull her up to the surface with me. Beyond a bit of a gash on her arm and what looks like a bump forming on her head she looks okay.

"You're Isla, right?" The distressed little girl nods, "I'll get you out of this." I promise the trembling child.

"ASTRAEA! TAKE THIS!" I hear a shout from the ferry and look over to see Darin tossing down a bright orange lifesaver attached to a long rope come down into the water just between us and the ferry. I pull the little girl to the lifesaver and put it over her head so she can hold on to it. I hold her tightly from the outside of the lifesaver and I wave up at Darin and the crowd of crew members that have gathered at the edge railing of the ferry. I turn to the sea finding that the storm is upon us, the skies morph into a dark roiling mass of soot black clouds, lightning flashes streaking across the sky, and thunder roaring all around us. I help her get her arms around the ropes of the lifesaver.

"Isla, you need to hold on very tightly to this." The terrified little girl gives me a tiny nod and grips the ropes attached around the lifesaver until her knuckles are white. "You're going to be okay. They're already pulling us up." I feel the rope go taut as the crew on board the ferry works to pull us out of the water.

I turn my back to the waves to hopefully better protect Isla from the raging water. Although, as we get closer to the ferry the water spins us around so that my back is to the ferry. I'm spun around just in time to see the gargantuan wave coming right for the ferry. I hear shouting from the deck, and I think I hear the garbled sounds of the ferry's intercom system.

"Astraea! Hold on!" I hear come from the deck above us. My only thought, _No kidding!_

"Isla, hold on as tight as you can, your mom and dad are waiting for you up there." I do my best to sound reassuring, there is a whole team of people helping to get this girl back on that ferry.

"Okay…" She whimpers, her eyes scrunched shut.

"Let's have a quick competition on who can hold their breath the longest, alright?"

"I'm good at that… I can even beat my older brother at it."

"That's amazing. Ready? Set?" She nods, "Go!" We both suck in as much air as possible just as the wave crashes over us. I feel it push us uncontrollably towards the ferry. Hold grip the lifesaver as tight as I'm able to.

We hit the side of the ferry and my back and shoulder take the brunt of the impact, we hit hard but not so hard that I lose grip of the lifesaver. I'm definitely going to feel that in the morning though… With my spare second to think, I regret not having a squishier back anymore. Out of the corner of my eyes I see a bright flash of a life jacket and see one of the crew making his way to us.

I feel the current pull us away and as I feel the current change, I brace to hit the ferry again.

Only this time the current whips us up a little bit too and my head crashes against the metal of the ferry.

Everything goes black.

* * *

I open my eyes, unable to feel anything right away and hoping to see the concerned faces of my mom and sister. However, I am only greeted with the sight of turbulent waves with an angry looking sky above me; lightning and thunder filling the world around me. Bringing myself to be upright in the water, I can see the ferry bobbing up and down in the waves a fair distance away from me. I've swam further in the ocean before… But that was in clear conditions with less current due to being in shallower water…

My head is pounding, but I have to try to get closer to the ferry… Or I'm done for… Whether I sink from waves or from not being able to stay afloat long enough to be rescued. I start swimming in the direction of the ferry, but it feels like every set of swim strokes only take me further away from the ferry. I try to wave at the ferry hoping that the glaring whiteness of my arms could be seen, but I can't see any difference on the ferry as I get pulled further away from it.

Every movement of my head causes stars to bloom across my vision and I can feel pain beginning in my shoulder to my back. Probably from hitting the ferry with the force of a tsunami…

God… I hope they got that little girl back on the ferry…

I turn to look behind me only to be submerged by wave cresting over me and crashing down. I get spun in circles from the momentum of the wave. The saltwater stings my eyes as I open them to see where the surface is. But as I swim, the currents are pulling me around like a ragdoll, and instead of up I'm only sinking further into the depths of the sea. I try desperately to follow the bubbles to the surface, but everything keeps getting colder and darker. The flashes of lightning becoming dim… The sounds of crashing waves and rolling thunder fading into nothing.

And just what's left of my breath bursts from my mouth, a warm golden light begins to envelop me from below and I can no longer keep my eyes open.

As my eyes close, everything becomes warm and peaceful.

Then nothing.

* * *

The sound of water washing against the shore is the first thing that comes to me.

Then the sensation of water splashing against me.

Then pain.

My whole body is in pain, dull then sharp. The pain seems to be pulsing across my entire body. For seconds, it is only a dull throb… Then for what seems like hours the pain is excruciating. I try to scream. To call out… For someone to help me. But I can't move. I can't speak. I can't even open my eyes… All I can do is try to focus on the sensation of the water against my skin as I burn from the inside out.

When the pain finally subsides, I'm able to open my eyes.

It is nighttime. And the stars are clear and brilliant. The whole sky is flooded with the shimmering pin pricks of light. I sit up slowly anticipating everything to be aching and sore from whatever pain had just overtaken me. But no pain comes. I look out the over water, the moonlight sparkling off the waves near the shore and further out the water is so still that it reflects the countless stars above.

"Starry maiden…" A voice from behind me causes me to whip around, my head aches a bit from the sudden movement.

"What?"

"You look like the stars brought you here, maiden." The source gets closer and I can see that it is a man in a simple looking robe draped around him.

"Why are you delaying?" A strong and serene voice emerges from the darkness.

"I've found a maiden, master." The man dips his head low as a magnificent looking man and woman approaching from just behind him.

They look unreal… Geometric marks across their skin giving off a warm light that pulses from their very being… Their clothing much finer looking than the first man, some parts look as though they were spun from light.

Once they get a full look at me their expressions become puzzled and they exchange a look before the man kneels down to speak with me.

"Who are you?" The man asks.

"Where did you come from?" The woman adds looking out over the glittering waters of the sea.

I stare at the ground for a few moments… Then it hits me.

"I don't know…" I look at my hands and then up at them, "Who are you?"

"I am Astraeus, and this is my wife, Eos." The man says to me as the woman smiles down at me.

"And…" I look in awe at the glowing marking on their bare arms and necks, "What are you?"

"We are called Isu."


	3. My Life... I Think.

**I hope you enjoyed the first two chapters! From here on it will be one chapter per week, and I have plenty of content ready to go!**

**Thanks for reading!**

* * *

_It's been a year since Astraeus and Eos found me on the beach near their home. But I feel no closer to remembering anything than the moment after I woke up from experiencing that excruciating pain… They have helped me recover from all the wounds I had that I couldn't remember getting, like the nasty gash on the back of my head._

_For this year I've mostly rested. Eos teaches me about the world a few times a week but the only things that feel familiar sometimes are some of the names I hear. Names of others like Astraeus and Eos, the Isu. Names like Jupiter, Minerva, and Poseidon… There are many others who are powerful and many of their names bring a feeling of disbelief. Like somewhere, deep inside of me, I don't believe there are really beings with those names._

_Eos says that Isu were responsible for the creation of humans, but that the humans have begun to change in ways they did not foresee. Like with art, music, and other cultural developments. The Isu seem to have some spectacular abilities too. And they create some of the most amazing things._

_Astraeus and Eos have many children and most of them are fairly pleasant. And they are all completely different from each other… Although, in some of their interactions something feels nostalgic, like I know how it is to have siblings… Could it be that I have brothers or sisters somewhere? Are they missing me?_

_For now… I guess I'll keep writing in this diary. With words my heart, mind, and hands know… Without remembering where or when I learnt them. Eos suggested it to keep track of things that might help me remember, the most I have are the memories I have in my hands of writing words unlike anything I've learnt from Eos…_

_Oh, I should put a year at least on this right? It is 2016 Isu Era._

* * *

_It's been fifteen years now. I guess I didn't do a very good job of writing in this book…_

_Well… I have watched the humans of Astraeus and Eos' household grow and change. The newborns have grown into adolescents and the adults are beginning to show grey hairs on their heads. The parents of the adults have wilted into weary men and women who help as they can but seem to be knocking on death's door._

_And yet… Despite my appearance being alike to theirs… I have not change at all. Astraeus and Eos have been keeping an eye on me. They haven't said anything, but I know they've noticed it too. I have also noticed that I seem to have gotten hardier than the humans. I don't get hurt as easily, and I seem to be able to grasp knowledge they cannot. They are beginning to revere me like how they do the Isu… I'm not sure I like it; I try to stop them whenever I can. And according to Eos and some of the female servants… I do not seem to have any kind of reproductive cycle; another thing that has set me apart from them._

_Maybe I'm not a human after all?_

_I am certainly not an Isu, I lack in height and the glowing marks they all bear…_

_But if I'm not human and I'm not Isu, then what am I?_

* * *

_It seems that I'm really just not cut out for diary keeping. Especially seeing as my last entry was around fifty years ago; it is now 2085 Isu Era. I wonder if that is how I always was, or if whatever happened changed me… Maybe before all this, I kept the best journals ever, with jaw-dropping detail for whoever happened to be snooping._

_I still use the letters my hands know in my writing, although I have now become adept at writing the Isu language and in the use of their system consoles. I find myself using turns of phrase that don't make sense in a literal fashion, but somehow I know the meaning they hold._

_Well… A lot has changed since that last entry. And I mean a lot._

_First, about five years after that entry, Astraeus and Eos offered me to join their family. I had been ready to say yes immediately, but they kept talking and telling me all the things they would be able to offer me if were I actually a part of their family. When they finished talking, we worked it all out. All in all it took about ten years to make it completely official. Then it was all those babies who had been born when I arrived who were well into their own families. Something about all that felt wrong then… But now, it doesn't bother me as much as it used to… Although, I'm not sure I can pinpoint when it stopped bothering me. Strange because Eos says my memory is sharper than that of humans._

_It was another almost ten years later they felt comfortable bringing me 'out' to the rest of the Isu. I met so many. Some of them were so amazing! Welcoming, warm, and kind… Others simply looked down their nose at me. They treated me like the humans who served them. In those Isu I was exposed to how some humans have to live. And the cruelty they suffer at the hands of their Isu owners._

_It was around this time that I first met Dike. She had been attending a sort of party where Eos had brought me to meet some of the other Isu, like Zeus, or Jupiter, and Athena, or Minerva… They told me that I could call them by Zeus and Athena. Dike had come to the corner I had found for myself, but she hadn't noticed me right away. I tried to go unnoticed but failed; much to my luck. We talked for the rest of the evening and have been near inseparable since. She is my greatest friend, and she is also supporting me in everything. It feels like I can never do enough in return for her._

_I suppose it was also close to this time that Astraeus and Eos began to work on figuring me out. They never once went outside my comfort zone, even if it would have meant more solid results. They confessed that perhaps near the beginning they might have done those things anyway, but they had grown to love me and found they couldn't harm me willfully. I remember their faces when I replied to them by saying it felt as though they were truly my parents._

_A few years later, I began to show signs of having powers similar to some of the Isu. Astraeus and Eos drew more blood then and discovered that I had changed on a physiological level. Even though my appearance hadn't changed at all, my body was changing completely. They told me then that the first sample of blood they had drawn, from immediately after they brought me home from the beach, resembled that of the humans. Continuing, they said that the new blood draw had shown a shift that placed me closer to Isu and yet different. Different in a way they couldn't figure out._

_It was at that point that they enlisted the help of other Isu scientists to help puzzle out what I had become, and they enlisted others to help me learn to fight. They wanted me to be able to protect myself should an enemy try to take me away or worse; kill me. Athena and Dike took turns training me at first, then as time went on Hermes joined in. Hephaestus and his apprentice, Consus, had come to examine my developing powers and they got very excited with Hermes over it all. I had been very confused about why until they came with all kinds of weapons that would only work with my unique kind of power. Apparently, they had all been chomping at the bit to make artifacts for my power, and honestly, they all kind of treated me like their little sister; it felt comfortable._

_Although, comfortable in a different way than I felt getting trained. There was something familiar about combat training, it tugged at my mind like a snagged thread in a tapestry where if you were to pull the right thread at the edge everything would be clear. Besides these feelings, my memories are no closer to returning. I can't remember any people, places, or things from my old life. I wonder if it isn't better that way… Because at least then I can't miss any of those things, even if I miss the idea of all of them._

_Astraeus and Eos have now gone to some other Isu to look for answers about me. Maybe I'll be able to answer that ending question from my last entry… Maybe once I know what I am, I'll know where I came from…_

_I can dream, can't I?_

* * *

_Okay, so no matter how much I promise myself, maybe I will never be good at this whole journaling thing… But whatever._

_Big news today! I finally bested Dike in a completely fair, all out sparring match!_

_I may have been immediately shot down by Athena next, but I have never beat either of them before!_

_Oh, the year is 2136. Yeah… It took me sixty years to defeat one of them. But hey!_

_Looking back through to the first entry, I now realize it's been more than one hundred years since I came to Astraeus and Eos._

_In that time, I have grown close to many of the other Isu who feel similarly to the way Astraeus and Eos do. They believe that humans are changing in ways that the Isu had not intended, but that it should not be deterred. With Astraeus and Eos, I traveled the world to various groups of Isu. We had been looking for answers about me but turned up absolutely nothing. I have even kept in decently close contact with a few of them, like Idun, Parvati, Uzume, and_ _Coyolxauhqui._

_With that trip though… It became apparent that the humans view me the same way they view the Isu… Even though I bear an appearance closer to them, they can tell that I am more like the Isu…_

_I don't want to worry Astraeus and Eos, but I'm beginning to feel as though there are no answers to be had. And I'm finding more and more often that I just don't care to know. Similarly, I am caring less and less about my missing memories. It doesn't matter who I was, where I was, or who I was with. I'm here now. And this is where I should give my energy. Not some hazy mirage of a life I don't know anymore._

_I think this will be my last entry. On purpose._

_Originally, this was supposed to be a way to regain my memories… That maybe writing in these letters, with the phrases only I know would bring something to my mind… But there is nothing._

_After I finish writing this entry, I'm going to put this away for a while and maybe the next time I find it, I won't have any more questions._

I close the old looking journal after reading the last entry. I never did get those answers. But… I think that it's mostly because I stopped looking. Astraeus and Eos still try to find some of the answers, but after we confounded most of the smartest Isu on the planet, they dialed back the trying…

It's hard to believe that that last actual entry was one hundred years ago. I copied out each entry after the last in Isu writing to prove to myself that I had learnt enough of it to translate the journal entries. I have now been able to best each of my sparring partners at least once, but I have never been in actual combat yet where lives would be hanging in the balance.

"Hey, are you ready?" Dike comes through the open doorway to my room. Her deep chestnut hair in a long braid cascading over her shoulder with a few of the wavy strands loose on the opposite side. Her amber eyes warm as she walks into my room.

"Yeah," I slide the journal into my pack, "Why are we going to Atlantis again?"

"Hephaestus said he has something he wants you to try." Dike reminds me.

"Right. I wonder what it is this time…" I follow Dike out into the main area of the house. A few of the servants bowing as we go by.

"Also, I believe that Poseidon wants to have us over for dinner as well, he probably wants to show off Atlantis again… His cycle there did start again just last year, and it went well from what I hear."

"That's good… Especially since, tensions between Isu and humans have been steadily getting worse over the last while." I comment,

"Yes, its has been an alarming trend. Especially for some of the more… Traditional Isu. Like those who belong to the Illuminat caste…"

"Yes… I've been hearing about that too."

We come around the corner to see Astraeus, Eos, and a couple of my adoptive siblings, Eurus, Zephyrus, Boreas, and Notus, discussing something. They all stop when they see Dike and I approaching. Eos comes and places a hand on my cheek gently looking down to my eyes.

"Off to Atlantis?" Eos asks us.

"Yeah, Hephaestus has something he wanted me to try."

"I swear he enjoys finding ways to have you incorporate your power into things…" Astraeus says as he steps over to us.

"I do enjoy trying them out, so…" I shrug and they all chuckle lightly.

"You be careful, Poseidon may be the ruler of Atlantis, but he can't completely control everything…" Notus says placing a hand on his sword, "You may have been adopted, but that doesn't make you any less my little sister."

"We all feel that way…" Eurus say as they wrap an arm around my shoulder.

"Even those of us not currently present, I'm sure." Zephyrus says as they smile largely at me.

"And even if we don't agree on much besides this…" Boreas adds as she nods her head.

"So, for that sake of all of Eden please take care of yourself, you may be more than human but that doesn't mean you're invulnerable." Astraeus adds forcefully.

"Thank you… I think that these years have been easier with all of you… But I don't want to be late to Atlantis, so Dike and I should probably leave."

"I suppose we'll let you leave this time…" Eurus jokes as they release their hold on my shoulder.

"I thank you graciously…" I play bow as I back up from them a little bit, "I'll probably only be a couple of days."

"Alright, have fun, but be careful!" Eos says one last time as I leave out the front door.

"Love you all!" I shout behind us as Dike and leave for a short trip to Atlantis.

* * *

"It is wonderful to have you here in my city again!" Poseidon holds his arms open as we walk into the grand hall where he is hosting his feast, "Please, I would like to introduce you to a new pair of newcomers to my city. They're visiting for now, but like with you, I hope they will choose to live here." A couple of Isu come over to us. They are both wearing pretty typical Isu garb, the woman wearing a sort of crown that has a veil off the back, "This is Juno," she gives a very slight head tilt, "and this is her husband, Aita." The man gives a more abrupt partial bow, "And this, my friends, is Astraea. And the ever-present Dike. This pair is nearly as inseparable as Persephone and Hecate." Poseidon laughs heavily at his joke with Juno and Aita chuckling along. Then Poseidon gets called away for something and Juno watches him leave before looking back to me.

"So, you are the one I've heard so many rumors about in Feyan, the one taken in by Astraeus and Eos? I'm sure that at least half the things I hear about you cannot be even close to true. Surely, someone of your… Stature…" She gets a step closer and pointedly looks down her nose at me, "Can't have possibly bested Minerva, Hermes, and Aletheia in sparring matches."

"I'm afraid that would be, as you suspect, only partially true. I have not faced Aletheia in a sparring bout yet. I have only briefly met her." Juno's eyes narrow a moment before she steps back and gives an empty smile.

"I wonder then what else I hear about you is simply hearsay." She says gently before walking away with Aita following after her. Something is off about her…

"You probably want to stay out of her attention… She's with the Illuminat caste and is getting a reputation for being pretty nasty to humans…" Dike whispers to me once they are far enough away.

"Noted…" We both watch her walk away, Aita trailing along as she cuts through the crowds. Pretty obvious who wears the pants in that relationship…

"Ah, if it isn't the lovely Astraea!" I turn to face the person coming towards us.

"Hermes! I'm surprised to see you… Haven't you practically glued yourself to Elysium lately?" Hermes grins.

"Well, Hephaestus sounded so excited about this latest thing that I couldn't help myself. But I shall return to the realm of my lovely Persephone soon." He dips his head before moving on and Dike and I also move away from the majority of the activity.

We chat for a while before another friend comes by.

"Astraea, Dike. It's good to see you again." He says to us as he sits on the bench next to ours looking out over the city.

"Ilios, I wasn't expecting to see you here. I thought you were staying in Feyan for the time being." Dike says to Ilios. She is usually wary of him, but over the last seven or so years she has had a gradual easing of her judgment.

"Well, I'd heard a rumor that Juno would be visiting Atlantis and had to see it for myself… Poseidon has been steadily increasing the rights for humans in the city and I wondered how Juno would react to it… It was pretty satisfying to watch her see humans getting treated almost well. And then when you spoke to her, Astraea. That was deeply amusing to see… I'm pretty sure she sees you as a human before all else… Even if you've been around longer than her." A wicked amusement passes through his eyes.

"I imagine she doesn't believe that fact." I quip, earning a laugh from Dike and a mischievous grin from Ilios.

I had met Ilios the last time I had visited Atlantis about fifteen years ago. We hadn't hit it off as friends right away, but we have certainly grown closer over last ten years. It was just last year that he left Eden to live in Feyan.

The three of us chatted until the evening's festivities were coming to an end and Poseidon had a servant lead us to a room with two beds that we would be able to sleep in for a couple of nights.

* * *

Well… This trip has certainly lasted longer than intended…

So long, in fact, that Boreas felt the need to come and check on us…

I had been under the impression that Hephaestus had finished something he wanted me to try out… When in reality he had only designed a few and wanted me to pick one to be made. I told him that it wasn't really necessary before coming, but he had insisted… So in the end I chose a short-sword design that would complement the long-sword he made for me some time ago. After I chose it, he revealed that the design could be morphed into a glaive styled weapon, a polearm with the sword blade on one end and the pommel on the other. Which… I admit I got incredibly excited about.

Hopefully, Hephaestus will be done his creation tomorrow, and Dike and I will return to Eden. Admittedly… This is the longest I've ever been away from home without at least one person from my adoptive family. They have always been pretty protective of me. Dike says they're overprotective, but that maybe they should be. Especially since I am considered unique and there could be any number of schemers who would love to get theirs hands on me for wicked and twisted experiments. I am scared of the idea that there could be those who would do that to me… But at the same time, I have grown a fairly large net of close friends within the circles of more powerful Isu and that makes me feel secure.

"You're looking lost in thought… Could it be that your memories are surfacing?" I look over to see Ilios approaching me from the other side of the boardwalk that circles the city.

"Nah, I'm just getting lost in the view of the water."

"Well… If you're interested I could take you to see something pretty incredible…" He offers a hand to me, smiling warmly. "Unless you wanted to wait for Dike…"

"Dike is with Jupiter right now; they're talking about something private so it's just me today. And you know what? That sounds like fun. Let's go." I take his hand and he takes me to the place he's been staying first.

"I just need to pick something up quickly… I'll just be a moment."

"Okay, I'll wait at the door here like a creeper." He scoffs.

"You sometimes have the strangest turns of phrase. Where do you think of all of them?"

"Honestly, it just kind of pops into my head… I'm pretty sure I didn't think of them myself."

"Interesting… Do you think it could be words from your memories and you just can't pinpoint it? Or maybe they were so ingrained by use before you lost your memories that the meaning and use of them is in your mind like muscle memory?" Ilios spits out a few more thoughts in a string, "Hey, do you mind coming here for a moment, I think you'll find this interesting…"

"Okay," I step into his temporary home and walk towards where he was talking from.

"Here look…" He steps back from a large chest and gestures for me to look inside.

As I near it I realize there's nothing inside and then I feel a prick on the skin of my neck. I grab my neck and turn to face Ilios, who is now wearing a sinister smile.

"I thought I would never get you alone… This has certainly been the long game." He's holding a device of some, kind in his hand, "It was always someone… Dike most of all but if it wasn't her it was one from your 'adoptive' family." He sneers at me as the world begins to blur, "But now I've shown them… You should be feeling the effects by now. Don't worry, before long you'll just be asleep…"

"But… W… Why…?" I manage to say before I fall backwards into the large chest.

"Well, shouldn't that be obvious? You are a unique specimen." He tucks both of my legs into the chest before closing the lid.

Then, just as Ilios promised, a sticky black feeling pulled me into darkness.

* * *

" _Raea…" A familiar voice, it makes me sad… "Wake up, sweetie… It's time for school."_

_I open my eyes to find myself on a noisy sea vessel… A ferry. The word floated to me like the waves below I'm looking out over a beautiful landscape, but it seems shrouded in haze… Smog. Again the word just comes to my mind._

_A sudden flash and the world is engulfed in a maelstrom. Gargantuan waves, crashing thunder, and piercing lightning. The ferry is being rocked all over the place. Then I'm tipped into the swirling waters. When I surface, I'm sitting a rectangular table with six people all around it._

_I know their faces… But it's almost as if there is an invisible wall between me and them…_

_They're all chattering and laughing together, two of them who look almost the same laugh wickedly as the younger girl shrieks and punches the closer one. They remind me of Astraeus and Eos' children… The two at the end of the table who I assume must be the parents look at the table with all-encompassing love. It's a look that I've seen on Astraeus and Eos' faces as they look at their children. And it's a look I recognize on these people. I feel so happy, but at the same time I want to dissolve into tears at this sight…_

* * *

My eyes fly open to reveal unfamiliar surroundings and a pounding headache. I try to raise my hand to my head to find that my hand is restrained. Testing movement reveals that I am restrained at my wrists and ankles. What happened? The last thing I remember is staring out over the waters surrounding Atlantis.

I regret not taking Eos' warnings a little more seriously…

"Ah, you've woken up. Did you have a pleasant sleep?" I turn my head to the right to find Ilios leaving a console to come over to me.

"Ilios? What happened? Where am I?" He places a hand gently on my arm.

"You don't need to worry about anything… I'm here to help you. You want answers about what you are, don't you?" He smiles in an eerie way, "Oh, how silly of me, of course you do." He says before I can answer.

"But… Then you did this?" I shake my arms, and he nods unnervingly at me, "Why?"

"Well, because you had to go and flaunt yourself in front of Juno like a preening songbird." He crosses his arms, "I have been in this for the long game, you see. And I saw it in her eyes. She wanted you to use you for _her_ experiments. I simply couldn't allow that. Not after all this effort I've made to earn your trust." He places his hand back on my arm, "I just couldn't let all my effort go to waste and let her just _have_ you. No. I had to act. Then by sheer luck, your guardian was called away by her father." He holds his open hands up to the ceiling almost in praise, "I could _not_ believe my luck when I saw you standing there all alone. No Dike in sight. I even waited almost an hour to see if she would appear. But she never did! It was like the everything had aligned itself to my needs. It took a little improvisation on how to get you secure, let alone out of the city. But even that all worked out! You see, the guards and other citizens of the city had seen us together often enough that they immediately cleared me of any suspicion at all! Then I left the city, and no one even thought to search me at all! I couldn't have asked for it to go any smoother."

He looks down at me and caresses my cheek. I try to shirk it away, but I can't move enough to do it, "Oh, and you asked where we are… It's a secret you see… I built all of this just for you as soon as I heard about you for the first time." He gestures widely to everything, "First I built this, and then I busied myself with plotting ways to get you here. I was never really sure what kind of things that Astraeus would try on you, but you confirmed my suspicions that he had gone soft for you. He became unwilling to make the necessary sacrifice in order for progress to be made." He strokes the cover of my journal. His words keep sending chills through me…

"I know that Astraeus and Eos didn't do everything to find out what had happened to me. But they said they didn't want to do it because it would cause too much pain to me and they couldn't bear to do it…" I say to him, in an attempt to reason with him.

"Yes. They decided to not make the sacrifice that could have gained them answers. And maybe even power."

"But I had agreed with them. I don't care about getting answers enough to go through that. So please… Let me go…"

"Tsk…" He glares down at me with stone cold eyes, "They've infected you with this belief that you have a choice over this. What fallacy. You could hold the key to an everlasting Isu rule for this world. A world where the Isu never age and have power beyond even our knowledge. We Isu scientists have an obligation to do whatever we can to advance ourselves." He leans in closely, "You will be here until you breathe your dying breath. You will be my research subjected until then, and if it turns out you do have true immortality… I suppose that would mean you will never be free again."

He stands back up and leaves the room having the lights turned off behind him.

Leaving me in cold darkness. A pit of dread in my stomach growing with each second.


	4. Specimen

I've completely lost all sense of time… There have been so many times where they've had me completely unconscious for extended periods of time.

But…

Those are the times I prefer.

Because the other times… Those are when Ilios deals the most pain doing his sick experiments.

There was a while that I think I was catatonic from everything… I don't remember much, but now if I just act it, they leave me in the quiet and dark cell for a while. Although, I have also learned some things about myself that I wouldn't have learnt otherwise… Not that I needed to learn them. For the past while it seems as though Ilios has been testing limits and my adaptability. Which exceed what I even thought possible… He's tested starvation, drowning, freezing, and other extreme conditions that I had never intended on exposing myself to.

I can go huge amounts of time without eating; where at some point I enter a sort of comatose state until nutrients are reintroduced to my system. I can last for a few hours under water before my body enters a similar state until I am brought to air. There were similar results with extreme cold, where I go through all the typical stages of hypothermia for an extended timeline until again, I enter a sort of sleep until my body is warmed back up.

He has also tested how well I heal. I already knew that I heal better than any human does. Not instantly, mind you, but minor cuts and bruises would be gone in a few hours instead of a few days.

Ilios, again, went for the extremes. He has inflicted progressively worsening wounds just to see how long it takes them to fully heal. Each time, I wonder if this is the time he maims me permanently. If perhaps this is the time that he severs a limb. I have a feeling that I can't grow back limbs…

Luckily, after inflicting a wound he leaves me alone, only having his servants do a check of my body while he processes data from his experiment. Hence my current isolation. And in my times alone I have developing another skill. It is something I had noticed a few times in sparring matches or testing other skills. But the time I've had in this dark cell has made it easier to hone. So far as I can tell, it is a way to extend my senses. Every time I use it I can 'see' farther. As I am, I can see the way to the main areas of Ilios' secret lab, including one main exit as well as a few smaller exits that are presumably used by the human servants he deems unworthy of using the same paths as a higher being such as himself.

And he treats them horribly. Arguably worse than any Illuminat caste member I've ever seen. Another thing that he had done to deceive me was to treat humans fairly… Apparently all this time he has been just another prideful, arrogant Isu, only pretending otherwise to earn my trust. And to my own irritation and self-disappointment I believed it all. Quite completely.

Although, there is no sign that Ilios has noticed this ability I've been nurturing on the sly. And so I intend on using it in my escape. I tried twice nearer the beginning to escape, both ending in failure and a change of scenery; presumably making my cell deeper into the mountain. At the beginning, I'd been getting taken quite a distance downwards to the main lab, but now it is only a few levels below me. Ilios explained that his reasons for a lab deep in a mountain were twofold. Firstly, so that none could feel the energy of his equipment from the surface. And secondly, to use energy from inside the earth as part of his power supply. He quite marveled at his own cleverness when he recounted it all to me.

"Thank you…" I pass the empty tray to the young slave girl who comes to collect it, these slaves have it rough here, and they don't need me being harsh. They aren't to blame for my imprisonment. The Isu guards on the other hand…

"Did you need any water?" The slave asks holding a pitcher of water towards me.

"Yes, thank you…" She pours some into a cup and places it on the small table before bowing and leaving the cell.

I hadn't eaten any of the food on the tray, nor do I intend on drinking the water. Not for distrust of the slave girl but I know that Ilios has an unfortunately tight hold over his slaves. The important part is that I made it seem as though I had both eaten and accepted the water. I want it to seem as though I had given up by obeying, not resisting any experiments, for at least the last few months so far as I could track anyway. I've also work to this end by seeming mostly unresponsive to any goading from either Isu guards or Ilios himself. I suppose I must have been convincing enough because the guards, on the sly from Ilios, have gotten lazy by simply leaving my cell open. And I have made the conditions perfect for my escape by not taking advantage of it right away… The arrogance of some Isu is boundless. These Isu, who are not as powerful as those I have trained with, have to feel superior somehow; so they take it out on the slaves as they meekly take care of their tasks… And on me for simply having been held above them by being adopted by Astraeus and Eos, two of the more well known Isu nobles. In fact, the other night… I think… I heard them whispering to one another about how Ilios holds me in such high regard through his constant reminders not to underestimate me. It upsets them because they've never seen me so much as lift a finger against them, which they see as weakness. Therefore, I must be a true weakling. Unable to defend myself at all, completely helpless against their innate power as Isu.

And now that the human servant has taken the tray, all I have to do is seem like I've fallen victim to the sedatives I know they lace the food with when the evening guard comes by.

Since the guards are Isu, all I have to do is make myself seem as incompetent as possible. Unfortunately, Ilios had seen me spar many times and I would be unlikely to fool him, but his guards can only rely on second-hand or maybe even third-hand accounts. As such, they are less likely to believe them. Which is the case for most of the guards that are usually posted between my location and the way to the slave's passage. If I can make it there, I should practically be home free. Through the servants passage I can retrieve slaves' clothing and hopefully meekly walk out as though I'm on orders from a guard.

Thankfully, I don't have the appearance of the Isu, with their towering frames and intricately beautiful markings.

I feel the guard making his way towards the entrance of the cell with the use of my enhanced senses, it also reveals that he isn't alone tonight.

I slow my breathing right down and let myself slump against the wall making sure that the cup of water is near my open hand.

"See? What did I tell you? She ate the whole meal _and_ had some of the water. She'll be out at least until tomorrow morning right before they come to check on her progress. Now we shouldn't have to even check on her at all…"

"That is pretty impressive… But how can you be so sure of the dosage? I mean even after all this time that you've been dosing the food and water, Master Ilios still hasn't found you out…"

"Skill, my friend. Skill. Now let's see if yours has improved with that game I taught you."

They laugh as they get further down the hall to the guard's quarters. According to _that_ conversation, Ilios has not been behind the sedatives in my meals… But I cannot discount that he could have meant for me to hear them say that in hopes that he earns some modicum of trust again… He isn't beneath such underhanded tactics. He did spend fifteen years gaining my trust to pull off this bullshit, after all.

I wait until all sounds from the guard's area has ceased, then I wait a little longer. I don't want to rush and then get caught. And in this place the servant humans are constantly milling about with chores and other duties… They seem to be on a fuller rotation than the guards around here.

Once it's quiet all around me I make my move.

I keep my senses sharp in order to spot problems before I come across them. For the most part the whole facility seems to be very quiet, to the exception of the occasional slave cleaning, or moving something. I avoid each one fairly easily and avoid being seen at all.

I make my way to where the slaves all sleep and find a rack with 'clean' slave's clothes. Clean being a relative term because Ilios seems to like making the gap between him and them as wide as he possibly can. With unfortunate success.

I go into a dark corner and slip out of the gossamer clothes he had been keeping me in, then I pull on the rough fabric of the slaves' tunics. I snatch a robe to cover my head since most of the humans around this area have dark hair and mine is a vibrantly warm blonde.

I pause around a corner from the long hallway leading to my freedom as I wait for a guard to stroll by during his watch cycle. As he passes my shadowy hiding place, I hear him yawn. Without looking around the corner, I use my sharpened senses to watch his route for a few rounds until he passes me again for the next long hallway and I dash for the exit. The scent of fresh air luring me forward.

Luckily, I keep my sense sharp and notice one more guard just on the other side of the entrance. I slow down as I near the entrance and realize that he is completely asleep. I watch each step carefully as I slip by him and keep my noise down as well as I can until I think I'm far enough away.

I skulk through the trees worried that there could still be guards in the shadows of the trees where the moonlight can't expose them. Then I come to a break in the tree line created by a sheer cliff revealing a stunning view of a moonlit valley. A moonlit valley that is empty as far as my eyes can see. I look to the stars to gather my bearings but as I take in the display of the constellations a sinister chuckle fills the area.

"I didn't think you'd actually make it this far." I whip myself around to see a smirking Ilios, "Come now, don't look so shocked. Did you really believe that I would just _let_ you stroll out of here? Give me _some_ credit. I _have_ kept this facility hidden from prying eyes for near on a century. I've even managed to keep it hidden with all those powerful Isu searching for you… They've obviously underestimated me. Much like how my guards thoroughly underestimated you. Not even one of them caught so much as a glimpse of you throughout my whole facility. It wasn't until the monitoring system in the forest picked you up that we figured out which entrance you had decided to try… I admit I can't figure out how you learnt about this…" He casually strolls up to me guards appearing from the deeply shadowed forest, I take a few steps backwards until I feel the edge of the cliff at my heels and he places a hand on my cheek and turns my face side to side, "But I _will_ find out." His hand turns to grip my neck almost too tightly, I grab his hand with my hands in an attempt to keep him from gripping any tighter, and he pulls me in, "I will _never_ let you leave this place. Breathe deeply of this free air… Let it fill your lungs, for it's the last you will ever feel." My whole body goes cold and I think of the now welcoming death drop only inches behind me…

I pull myself downward and push back with feet while wrenching with my hands against his to release me. Fighting his grip and almost growling at him to release me. Then he lifts me up to his height, and all I can do is hold onto his arm to keep from choking. He steps forward holding me out over the drop that I can't see but know is there by the new wind at my legs.

"Is this what you want? Is it really _so_ bad helping all of Isukind forward?" I gaze up at the stars, I only want away from this… I want to be free from whatever I am… "Tsk." He turns and tosses me past his line of guards. The landing knocks the wind out of me and when I turn gasping to face him, I see the horizon beginning to lighten to grey.

"Knock her out." I hear before a foot flies into my stomach and as I curl up in pain from the impact another foot cracks against my head causing a consuming blackness to take over.

* * *

"Why won't you eat anything? You know what will happen if you don't eat something. And then how will I get honest results from any of these tests?" Ilios chides me as he brings my meal into the tiny caged off area of the lab that he now keeps me in, "These meals are perfectly balanced in all the nutrition that a body like yours could need… How can I know if you're truly to your full potential if you in a constant state of starvation?" I glare up at him.

"You realize that saying that just makes me want to starve myself more, right? Plus, would you want to eat a meal full of sedatives?"

"Now, now… I may have used sedatives a little at the beginning when you were being completely uncooperative. But I have not put in any sedatives into your meals for some time now." Ilios tries to reason with me, he is really laying it on thick…

"Seriously? After all your bullshit, you're just going to keep this lie up?" His eyes narrow at me and he looks at the plate in his hand. No way. There is no way that he hasn't known all this time that they've kept putting sedatives in the meals…

He walks out and a guard activates the barrier keeping me inside of the restrictive space.

* * *

I wake up to the sounds of people rushing around and something crashing as it gets knocked over by a careless guard.

"Hurry up. Leave most of this and take only what we can carry. Well… What _you_ can carry." Ilios strides over to the barrier and deactivates it. Two guards come in and grab my arms and pull me out: holding me in front of my jailer.

"What? Did someone start a fire finally? Oh, is the mountain erupting?"

"Silence. Your persistent crew of handlers is narrowing in on this location. I had _hoped_ that with this whole Human-Isu war going on, that they would get caught up in the fighting… But alas… So, _I'm_ leaving with all of my staff." It sounds like I'm staying… Is he letting them find me, finally? An unsettling chuckle comes from him, "Don't look so hopeful. _We_ are leaving here to draw them away." He nods to the guards and begins to walk to the opposite corner of the lab to where a large circle is raised from the rest of the lab. I've always wondered what it was for… Something tells me I won't be happy finding out, " _You_ will be staying right here." He gestures to the dais and the guards walk me onto it and Ilios uses the energy that many of the powerful Isu have to keep me there while his guards get off the circle and a barrier is activated making it impossible for me to leave.

He strides over to the console that presumably controls this contraption and puts in some commands that change the barrier's colour from blue to a sparkling gold. Then he walks back to it and taps his knuckle on the now solid glass-like surface shimmering with gold. I place my own hand on it for a moment in wonder. Then I pound on the shimmering wall, but it only absorbs the impact without bending or even making a sound.

"I have worked long and hard on this… I had hoped that it would be something of a stasis pod for Isu, like myself… To stay young and powerful for millennia longer than we normally would… I used your powers to develop it. You could say it's the fruit of your labors…" He walks along the circle dragging a finger over its surface, "But no matter what I tried I could not get Isu DNA to stop aging while inside. Although, from all my tests it seems that for you it will make it so that you come out of it in the exact state you go in… So, while I lure your hunting party away from you… You will wait here for me to return." He steps back and I see that all activity in the lab had ended and the only ones left were me, him, and his two guards. He returns to the console and inputs a few more commands and the bottom of the circle begins to fill with a shimmering liquid, "And you best hope I return… Or you will be here for eternity."

"No…" He turns and walks out of the lab, the liquid reaching my ankles, "NOO!" I pound on the silent glass and I see him on the other side of a window at a control console. I see him wave his hand over the console and the lights go out and the power to the other consoles is cut. Leaving the only active thing in the room this stasis device and its control console. "ILIOS!" I pound on the barrier, the liquid rising to my hips. I kick the wall but with no better result.

I look around desperately for any kind of control on the inside of this contraption, but the whole space I'm in is completely isolated from the rest of the lab…

I don't die from drowning in water, but I don't know what this is…

I begin to tread as it rises above where my head would be. It being thicker than water makes keeping my head out of it difficult, it seems to want to pull me under. The gossamer clothing Ilios always keeps me in begins to bellow out around me as I get closer and closer to the top of the containment area.

Finally, I'm at the top and breathing the last of the air as the liquid reaches my face. I take one last gulp of air and close my eyes before the liquid finishes filling the space.

I slowly open my eyes until a jolt goes through me. Causing me to gasp and lose my breath to the increasingly viscous liquid.

Then everything goes away as I sink into a warm, dark sleep.

* * *

I hear the sound of rushing water and then a worried voice… I know this voice… I open my eyes to see a curtain of chestnut hair and warm amber eyes looking down at me as a woman leans over me.

"Astraea? Come on… Wake up…" My eyes continuing to flutter for a moment before I am able to hold them open and get a solid look at her. She has undulating marks going down her arms and a few that frame her face, "That's it, come on…" She raises me to a sitting position against the wall.

I know her… But… I can't think of how…

I feel a tidal wave of exhaustion hit me, how am I tired? I just woke up…

"No… I can't let you fall asleep… Not yet. Please, eat first." The woman reaches behind her and brings back a small loaf of bread, she tears a few pieces of and holds one out to me, I try to reach out for it but my arm won't move, "Oh, you probably can't move on your own yet… You haven't eaten in… A while." She moves the bread to my mouth.

"I…" I try to squeeze out a few words, mostly because I don't know if anything I eat will stay down…

"Don't worry… You'll get your strength back. You just need to eat first." She moves the bread towards my mouth again, but this time I take a bite. As soon as I swallow the bread all nausea ebbs away and is replaced by a ravenous hunger. She feeds me a few more pieces of bread and then brings a water skin to my mouth. Then it hits me.

"Dike…" She jumps at the sound of her name before turning back to me from her pack and smiling with tears in her eyes.

"That's right." She pulls me into a long hug, "We looked for you for so long… I can't believe I finally found you." I feel tears stinging my eyes before they flow freely until Dike releases me from her hold.

"Where…" I still can't form all the words I want to say.

"You don't quite remember yet? I guess it's from this contraption that Ilios put you in…" As she says the name a dam blocking memories shatters and a flood reminds me of what led up to me being in this room.

"Ilios… Lab…"

"Yes. This is the lab he took you to… A long time ago. He meant to return here… But…" She sets the water down and holds another loaf of bread up, this time my arms obey when I reach out to take it, my stomaching growling boisterously. "Eat up really well first. This will be a lot to take in…"

"Okay…" We sit in silence for a while as I eat the bread. Taking a better look at her now reveals that something has clearly changed. There are a few scars that hadn't been there before. The radiant clothing she used to wear has been replaced with a more practical look robe and the crown she once wore with the typical Isu headdress has been swapped for a simple diadem. I remember Ilios mentioning a war between humans and Isu… It had been a long time coming but… What have I missed? And where is everyone else? Like Astraeus, Eos, and their children… My family…

I reach for the water skin and she passes it to me wordlessly, I can feel myself getting stronger with each bite of the plain but incredibly satisfying bread.

"Here…" Dikes stands and holds her hand out to me, "Let's leave this room… I saw an empty one on my way in that we can use to camp in."

"Why camp?" I manage to get out, because there were whole sections of this facility full of beds and comfortable places to sleep, why camp when we can use those?

"I'll explain after you've rested…" I take her hand and she helps me stand up and half carries me through ruined areas of the facility that, for me, were whole only yesterday. And what was once some of the lowest floors of the facility now have cracks and breaks… Some of which are letting in a small amount of natural light and trickles of water.

Dike sits me down on some ruined pillar and goes about setting up a couple of sleeping rolls and a small fire.

"I'll wake you up once morning comes around…"

And what I thought would be difficult turns out to be beyond easy, when my head hits the pillow of the bedroll and I immediately fall to sleep.

The sleep this time though, it isn't dark and lonely… It is full of life and memories.

_A woman with wildly curly strawberry-blonde hair embraces me and places a hand on my cheek, "My Raea… My ray of light…"_

_I'm a child and a man lifts me up and spins me around, "Higher daddy!" I shout as he holds me up above his head, I look down to see him grinning widely, eyes full of love._

_At elementary school, my third day of first grade and some older boys stop me in the hallway and push me to the ground laughing. Four boys all from fifth grade… Then two more boys launch at them and a girl helps me stand up and puts herself between me and the brawl. Afterwards our parents and all of their younger kids in the principal's office discussing the incident as the two boys who look the same and the girl all smile at me. My brothers and one of my sisters…_

_Ten, my siblings have shunned me to the attic room… But I'll be okay…_

_Fifteen and my heart's been broken… A young woman holding me tightly on my bed as I cry away the pain… My older sister…_

_Twentieth birthday… We are all together posing for the Victorian-style photo with me at the center of the picture and them all around me. I couldn't be happier to have all my family in one place again…_

I bolt up from the bedroll, gasping for air.

"Astraea! Are you okay?" I look over to the source of the voice and I see Dike. Then the reality of what happened sets in and I cannot stop the flood of tears that comes to me. Dike comes and holds me as I release everything from the return of my memories…

After I finish crying and Dike backs away, I stand up and hold my head between my hands. _How on Earth did this happen? Is it even real?_

I look at my arms and see the scars left from some of Ilios' twisted experiments… _There's now way_ that _wasn't real…_

"Astraea… What's the problem?" I look over at my impossible friend.

"Dike…" I look her up and down, towering height and glowing markings… Things that without my memories from my earlier life seemed normal… And I can now identify as most definitely _not_ normal. "Dike… I remember everything." Her eyes get wide and she stands up.

"Everything… You remember your childhood and where you are from then?"

"Yes…" I look at my hands and then around the room.

"Well? Where are you from?"

"This is going to sound absolutely crazy… You might not even believe me… But I think I might be from another Earth… Maybe some kind of alternate dimension where the gods and mythology is real… Because there are no Isu where I'm from… And… Dike, I was born a human. I don't know what exactly happened to me, but I wasn't like this before. And where I'm from Atlantis is a myth, and Athena and Zeus are a few of the others are known as gods of the ancient world…" Or what if… Could this be the past? No… I don't remember ever learning anything about any advanced society of super-beings like the Isu in any history book… And I grew up around history books.

"That… That is pretty radical sounding… But at the same time…" I see the gears turning in her mind as she processes.

"Athena… She is one of the best scientists… We need to talk to her. Maybe we can figure this all out…"

"Well… I can bring you to her but… There are things I need to tell you first." She sits down on the piece of broken pillar nearby and motions for me to sit with her, after I sit down, she begins, "It was around sixty years after Ilios abducted you from Atlantis… But two hybrids, Adam and Eve, finally started the war between humans and Isu."

"When did you all find out that it was Ilios?" I ask.

"It was a month or two after he took you… But by then all traces of him were gone… No one knew where he had gone. No one had seen him since Atlantis. And none of his staff at his home in Feyan even knew about this place…"

"He did say that he had been working on this facility for almost a century before acting.. Anyway, sorry, the war between humans and Isu…"

"Well, many on both sides were dying. There were only a few factions of Isu, and the humans connected to them, who stayed away from the fighting…" She pauses.

"You're talking all in past tense… So, the war is over then?" She takes a deep breath before continuing.

"About ten years after the war began… The sun's energy shot out at the planet. It was pure devastation. Athena and my father had been trying to find a way to protect us all… But with so many fighting in the war, there hadn't been enough time or resources to do anything... Ultimately, the Earth was ravaged, and it burnt for weeks. It was awful." I look at her, and she looks at me, "Astraeus, Eos, and their children all survived along with most of the more powerful Isu, but with the remaining Isu… It is likely that within the next few millennia that Isu will have died out completely."

"So, is that how this place got so… Ruined? How did that stasis device that intact?"

"Well… That may have started it… I think that the stasis device remained intact because of how deep this part of the facility is… The area is also very seismically stable… But there's still more…" She turns to face me, "You were taken in 2236 Isu Era… That was more than 40,000 years ago." The statement hits me like a titanium wall. That's when it hits me as I look at her, before in a human comparison she looked to be a fresh-faced twenty-year-old woman… Now, she looks as though she were in her late thirties…

"But then… Everyone else? You said that Astraeus and Eos survived the catastrophe that happened from the sun…"

"I'm sorry Astraea… They lived until around 9,000 years ago. Isu lives are longer by far than human's but not everlasting… I'm sure you can even see the changes in me…" Dike places a hand on my leg comfortingly, "They never gave up on you. They truly loved you as their own. It destroyed them when they found out you had been abducted… They blamed themselves for a long time. They always felt they could have done so much to prevent that."

"It wasn't their fault… It was mine for being stupid and trusting…"

"We all trusted Ilios. We never could have imagined that he had been able to have something like this." She gestures around us, "Or that he could have done things like this…" Dike traces a finger along one of the scars from the experiments, "I'm sorry I couldn't protect you better. Part of the fault is mine…"

"It's not your fault at all… Ilios… He was playing the long game… He fooled us all."

"That also means it isn't your fault." Dike says forcefully.

"You said that Athena is still around… I want to ask her something."

"Okay… It should be morning by now… Let's get moving, there is a fair distance to cover."

* * *

I run my hand over the console of the stasis device, and it comes to life.

Thank god it still works…

So much has happened…

Dike had taken me to Athena who had been on her last legs, desperately getting something she called 'the Vault' prepared for a human in the future who would be the called the Prophet and would open the Vault to learn everything about the Catastrophe and how it will happen again in 2012.

She had told me that in the time after the Catastrophe Astraeus and Eos came to her for help. She hadn't been able to spare them much time, but she had been able to tell them that they would never see me face-to-face again and if they wanted to, they could prepare something of a vault for me. They never did tell Athena where it was, but she is very skilled with looking into the future and told them that if they were to build a vault for me, that in time, I would find it.

Athena also confirmed with me that somehow, I had been brought backwards in time and altered in a way she didn't think possible. She told me that in being altered I had gained something that many Isu, not just Ilios, had been fighting to find… As true of immortality as had ever been seen. Athena told me that I should always trust my instincts, that they would lead me well through time and back to my family. She said that when Astraeus and Eos had come asking she had seen all the time leading up to when I would be reunited with my family… My birth family. As the family I had known for those years after losing my memories were all gone. She warned that I would face hardships unlike any other human had, and that I would need to find ways to hold onto my humanity or lose myself entirely…

After that, Dike and I looked for the vault that had been left for me… While looking we did our best to help guide the growing human societies along the road to a virtuous life. Not that it was helping. Over the years, despite however many single human communities we visited… Overall, humanity was growing into darkness. A part of me had begun wishing that I hadn't grown such a disdain for history growing up… Because if I hadn't perhaps, I would have been able to know what things I shouldn't get involved with…

I also learnt how to summon my power in a more primal way than Hephaestus and Hermes' weapons had me using it. I found that I could use it in many ways much like the Isu used energy for fighting, creating, and living. I found I could make plants thrive with it or kill them. I could heal minor wounds or close larger ones. I could create weapons out of energy if I found myself in need. But the use I found for that power that came most naturally to me? Creating wings to fly through the sky.

While the times with Dike weren't always easy… My time traveling with Dike was wonderful. Some many moments I will cherish even after the only trace of them having happened is my memory.

It had been some time after our meeting with Athena, who preferred being called Minerva then, that I realized a real conundrum. My parents had named me after the Starry Maiden. A Greek goddess who had been the daughter of the titan god of dusk, Astraeus, and the titan goddess of dawn, Eos. Meaning that I was named after myself.

"Now… Here I am again…" I put into the console for what I want it to do then go and step onto the circle.

I just don't want to live the whole time between now and my family… So far as I can tell humans have barely reached what I understand to be recorded history…

 _And now I don't have Dike anymore…_ The fresh hole in my heart gnaws at me, I can't stand to lose even one friend… Athena… Minerva had said I would experience loss many times, but if it feels like this every time… I don't want to. I would rather sleep history away.

The barrier appears and the bottom begins to fill with the shimmering liquid again.

 _It'll_ _be easier just to sleep it all away…_

I patiently let the space fill with the liquid. When it reaches the top, I take a small breath and let myself begin to sink through the thickening liquid, then the shock jolts through me.

Then, once again, I fall into the dark, warm sleep. Alone.


	5. My Sister's Keeper

Astraea

_Island in the Tyrrhenian Sea, 2017_

This has certainly been a lot longer than I had hoped when I had put myself into Ilios' stasis device. I wonder when I would have woken up if it hadn't been for the earthquake that shattered the whole thing. I had come to completely disoriented, and alone. It had woken me up during what is called the "Golden Age" of Ancient Greece by scholars now. Scant years after the death of Perikles, now recognized as the father of democracy. Which was about two thousand years earlier than I had wanted… Mind, that is less time than Dike and I had been traveling the ancient world together… But the earthquake had not only awoken me; it had also completely destroyed what little had been left of Ilios' laboratory facility. After all the years it sat there, I suppose it was lucky that it lasted _that_ long in functioning order. So, I suppose that makes me lucky for it having cut my waking time into a fraction of what it would have been.

 _But now…_ I look out over the Tyrrhenian Sea and breathe deeply. _It's finally time._

I watch as the menacing black clouds sail over Vesuvius speeding towards where I am aboard a ferry minutes away from the scariest moment of my life at that point. I finish getting myself ready for a long swim.

I have been in hacking into the weather monitoring equipment hooked to the internet in this area to keep an eye on how the currents are fairing. Luckily, that is a fairly lowkey hack that won't garner the attention of anyone important such as the likes of Abstergo, the Brotherhood, or Erudito…

And now I have a loose goal of where I am going to plant myself to be miraculously 'found' on a deserted island. Deserted being a relative term. I found a smattering of islands that are decently out of the way, but ones that some locals use are base jumps for longer recreational boat trips. My odds of being found are pretty high, but they are deserted enough that it could take a while… Which is something I want. My body type is so completely different now that I need something to attribute it to. Minor starvation could do it. So long as no one looks too closely.

The real problem is going to be with my family. I'm going to have to be very careful to never let them see my bare skin. I may be more durable than most people but I'm not indestructible. And that shows with how many scars I've earned over the last two millennia… Luckily, the three scars on my face are easily hidden and light enough that a light layer of foundation ought to cover them just fine.

I look back to the storm and feel the energy coming from it. Something I hadn't been able to perceive then. That storm is anything but natural. I wonder whether it was always meant to happen the way it did… And if so, what made it that way… No Isu ever took credit for my existence back then and, despite the thousands of Isu sites I've seen in my search for the vault left by Astraeus and Eos, I never found evidence of research about what could have changed me anywhere.

I wade into the water and begin a well-paced swim in the direction of the small collection of semi-deserted islands.

* * *

As I suspected, it has taken long enough that a normal person would have begun to feel the effects of not only dehydration but minor starvation as well. I've spotted a few boats too far off in the distance in the time since I arrived on this little island, and by my count it's been around 14 days. Which someone who would have been at my body type would have lived this long well enough with water, like I have made sure to have a source of.

I light the fire I had built and begin to wave at a sailboat. That seems to be aiming for this little island for a rest stop.

The unfortunately strange circumstances of my falling off the ferry will have garnered some attention but hopefully it more or less has stayed local between the nearby communities in Italy and my home city in Canada. I have hopes for a nice couple of decades away from the whole Templar-Assassin conflict to spend that time with my family. I have gone to some pretty drastic preparations in order to hide my presence from all involved parties. Many of these preparations having been put in motion more than a couple of decades ago.

* * *

Venus

_Touring Rome, 2017_

"I can _not_ believe them. I was talking to them and they had said that… That they didn't care much about body types. That they can _look past the surface_! Maybe if that surface was a puddle you could step in without getting your shoes wet!" Venus has been venting out the bathroom door for a while now, even before Astraea could hear her. "I mean _really_! You have lost so much weight since… I really thought that maybe things with males would change too… I'm sorry Raea… Please know I think you are beautiful."

"Hey, it doesn't really bother me anymore." Astraea smiles at Venus as she steps out of the bathroom, but the smile seems sad instead of her usual cheery, glowing-from-the-inside smile. _I hope that I didn't have anything to do with that…_ Venus thinks remembering how she acted to Astraea when they were younger. "I know how much work we both put into this and we certainly got the results." Raea gestures to her body, she is right.

"I know… But that isn't the point. I'm just so sick of that kind of guy only talking to me until you come and then acting as if you're some kind of freak." Venus tries to explain why she was so upset about it.

"Like I'm your duff, you mean?" Venus clenches the toothbrush in her fist hard enough that she can feel her nails digging into her palm, _I wish that word had never been created._

"Yes. They literally treat you like the literal definition of a duff. You're not even fat or ugly at all!" She stuffs the toothbrush into her mouth and begins to aggressively brush her teeth. Venus only wants Astraea to find confidence in herself… Confidence that had disappeared over her adolescence by what Venus is pretty sure was at least partly her fault. A few minutes of silence from the room lets Venus finish brushing and begin to rinse out her mouth.

"I mean… My hair did kind of look like a disaster there for a while… All that humidity in that cramped, slanted staircase to get to the top of the dome really did a number on the frizz level… Not to mention the level of sweat I produced. I guess it was worse than I thought if I looked like a monster." Venus can't help but snort from laughter, which causes the toothpaste water in her mouth to spew from her nose. The water burns as it jets from her nose. Venus wipes off her face and gargles a bit of water to help get the sting out of her mouth. But the sting in her nose keeps making her eyes water. She takes a step out of the bathroom to jokingly berate Raea.

"You made me snort toothpaste water. That _really_ hurt!" Venus goes back into the bathroom to clean up herself and the mess that got made… _It's all over the mirror…_ _God… I'm even meeting a contact later…_

"Mum _is_ meeting us in Naples, right?" Raea asks from her bed.

"Yep. She's coming to Capri with us, but she wants to join us for our tour of Pompeii too." Venus answers without leaving the bathroom.

"Cool, that'll be great." She has really been looking forward to visiting with their mom. _Although, I can understand why…_ Venus and her mom work closely together. Not always physically close, but they work for the same people. _Maybe some day Raea will join us too…_ The thought slips across Venus' mind without warning. _No. Raea is_ not _cut out for what happens. The only thing she has going for her is her incredible talent in basically all the skills that she would need._ _In fact, out of all of us… Mesonyx, Aquilo, Zephyr, and myself she is probably the most talented… She probably could surpass us skills-wise in maybe a couple of years… Or perhaps even less…_ But Venus also knows that Astraea values life too much to be suited for most of what goes on with their family.

 _I just wish we wouldn't have to lie about it all… But that was the deal that mom had made. That her children would be given a choice on whether they would join or stay out of it._ For Venus and her siblings, they had all been presented with the choice after they had finished their post-secondary education. _Soon, it could be Raea's turn to choose…_

"Alright, all done now. Your turn, you gonna have a shower?" Venus steps out of the bathroom carrying her now packed bathroom bag to her suitcase.

"Hmmm…" Raea ponders for a moment before deciding, "Yeah, I think so… St. Peter's was ludicrously hard. I sweated up a storm… My poor shirt will never be the same." She jokingly pulls her shirt away from her, sniffs her pits, and makes a face. Venus laughs at her sister. She can get laughs from people so easily, it was always something that Venus kind of envied about her little sister.

"Your telling me! I thought my legs would give out!"

"I know, right!" The sisters chuckle together before Astraea goes for her shower.

"I'm just going down to the lobby to grab a couple of snacks; I won't be long." Venus says to the closed bathroom door.

"Oki doki." She hears from the other side, before the sound of the curtain closing and the shower starting.

Venus grabs a key card from the table and stuffs it into her pocket before going out the door and waiting for it to shut behind her before leaving to head down to the lobby of the hotel to meet with her contact.

When Venus arrives in the lobby, she is surprised to find that her contact is in fact her older brother… One of a set of twins, Zephyr. He grows a large grin on his face, _must be good news…_ Venus sits down across from him.

"Hey, Vee! How are you doing?" The stupid grin still plastered on his face.

"Zeph… I thought that you and Lio were on a job elsewhere…" Zephyr combs his fingers through his chestnut coloured hair, the grin turning sheepish. His clear grey eyes adopting a greener hue in this light.

"Well, we finished up so I… Volunteered to bring you this stuff." He pulls out a file and passes it over to Venus, "Dad said it should be the remainder of what you need for the trip."

"Great. Thanks, Zeph."

"I'm always happy to help my adorable little sisters." They both stand up and give a quick hug, Zephyr's six feet towering over Venus' slight frame, "Do you think that mom is going to tell Raea?" Venus steps back a little from Zephyr.

"Honestly? I've really thought about it a lot, and once in a while I wonder if we should tell her… But… No. Raea is not like the rest of us… She…"

"I know what you mean…" Zeph interjects, "I agree… She is too kind for it all… Even just knowing would really affect her, I think." They both keep their voices a little low to avoid any possibility of eavesdroppers.

"Yeah…" Venus agrees, Zeph is so in tune with all the people he loves, he knows how to cheer them up, and when they just need someone. And he also knows _who_ they are… Not just the person they present to the world, he seems to really get a sense for who someone is deep down. Something that Venus wishes she could do but can only ever get the barest hint of true intention.

"Hey, have you heard from Nyx at all?" Venus asks Zephyr.

"No, nothing for a while, but you know her… She's very serious about her work, and those Instruments bastards are tricky sometimes, because they've even had our kind turn to them." Zeph shrugs, "But I'm sure she's fine. She has been at this longer than the rest of us after all…"

"I suppose so… I guess I just worry about her sometimes, she can seem so distant." Venus wrings her hands a little bit.

"Anyway, I best be on my way. I told dad I wouldn't linger too long… He worries about you and Raea a lot." Zeph places his hand on his sister's shoulder.

"Tell him not to worry too much… I know what I'm doing, and Raea is plenty capable on her own too. She may be too kind for this world, but her talents undoubtedly are keyed for it."

"You said it. I saw some of the clips from when Ali was coaching her in her martial arts a couple of months ago. She is an unbelievably quick learner… Even without the Animus for help... That doesn't even cover all the other things she's learnt." Venus gives Zephyr the eye and he holds his hands up, "I know, I know…" He begins to walk away.

"Take care." Venus says, Zephyr answers by turning for a moment and flashing a big grin before leaving Venus in the hotel lobby.

Venus gets some fruit and a couple of muffins from the guest lounge to bring up to the room for her and Raea to share.

The sisters chat for a while after Raea emerged from the shower before they both decide that they should get some sleep for their day of travel tomorrow.

* * *

Venus finds herself waking to the sounds of gasping. Her heart begins to pound worrying that someone had broken into the room, she smacks the switch for her bedside light and looks over to Astraea's bed.

But it is only her and Astraea in the room. The gasping is Astraea.

Venus climbs out of her bed and canters to Astraea's side. It doesn't seem like Astraea is actually having trouble breathing, but she is grunting and gasping like she can't breathe. She's also gripping the blankets so tightly that her knuckles are white.

"Astraea. Wake up." She shakes Astraea's shoulder hoping to rouse her but Raea continues to gasp, "Raea! Wake up." A sudden sharp intake of breath and her eyes fly open. "Hey… Are you alright?" Venus looks into her sister's emerald eyes as she focuses from waking up suddenly, "You were gasping like you couldn't breathe or something…"

"Yeah… I'm okay. It was a nightmare… I think…" Her eyes scrunch up like she trying to focus on something far away.

"What was it about?" Venus sits back down on the edge of her bed, "It seemed really awful, like you were being suffocated or something…"

"I… don't remember…" Her hand goes up to her forehead, not quite like she has a headache but more like she's searching for the dream.

"That's unusual for you. Most of the time you remember the tiniest details from your dreams."

"Yeah… Oh well, if I woke you up from it, maybe it's better off forgotten…" Venus shrugs, slips back under her covers, and turns off her light. _It's going to take a while for me to get some sleep…_

"Goodnight, Raea."

"Night, Vee…" Venus hears Astraea roll over in her bed, and after a while of silence in the dark, Venus begins to hear the soft and regular breathing of her sleeping sister.

After another twenty minutes or so of not being able to fall to sleep, Venus gets up to get a drink of water in the bathroom. She then uses her phone's flashlight to check the room over again. From the window's locks to the several locks on the door and even peeking out the peep hole. All secure.

She focuses herself the way her parents taught her to, and she uses it to confirm that there have been no other people in the room besides the two of them.

Feeling a little more at ease, Venus returns to her bed and manages to fall asleep.

* * *

"I was really looking forward to spending some time with her… It feels like its been ages since we were able to spend time together." Raea's shoulders visibly slump with the disappointment as she watches the car with their mother inside drive away, Venus puts her hand on her sister's shoulder.

"Don't worry, you'll be able to spend time with her later." Venus smiles reassuringly at Astraea, "Plus, we have to get going to that tour bus! We don't want to miss the tour of Pompeii right!" She nudges Raea's shoulder with her fist, "You _are_ an architecture nerd after all, right?"

"Well, only surface, really." I chuckle, "That was only part of my double major." Raea gives her chest a double smack, "At my CORE I am an art nerd! Although… That just makes Pompeii all the more interesting to me. There are some of the best-preserved Roman paintings in Pompeii from having been covered in ash so quickly!" Venus could practically see all the, barely, withheld information that is probably just waiting to spew forth. Venus had joked after their tour of the Vatican that they almost didn't need to guide for it after all.

"NERD!" Venus teases as she bumps Astraea's side.

Her mother being called away not once or twice, but four times in the last three days has put Venus on edge a little bit. Especially since she has had any contact with people actively working on business limited. Her whole family had agreed that it would be best until they had all decided whether to tell Astraea the whole truth. Because if we got her involved too deeply, she would no longer have a choice, even after being told about it all. But if they could keep her out of the enemies' eyes for the time being then she could still have a chance at a normal life. If that is in fact what she wanted for herself.

The sisters stroll down the streets towards where they are supposed to meet the tour guide and bus.

Venus watches the route carefully, staring at the shadows in the side roads for movement, the looks upwards to make sure no one is watching from the roof tops, eyeing each rooftop garden for glints of scope or binoculars. She also kept spying for escape routes in every direction in case they become suddenly surrounded and outnumbered.

A crash from inside a noisy café. Horns honking a few streets over. A shadow that turned out to be a pigeon that flew away as the two approached. A couple that had come from a side street, in question until the woman looked truly mesmerized by their hands joined. A window that shut as they approached drew almost too much of Venus' attention as they come around a corner and found the crowd of people with a bus nearby and a tour guide shouting for everyone to sign in before boarding the bus.

"I have the papers, so I'll go sign us in with the tour guide." Venus strides over to the tour guide, wary of the amount of people. _God, I_ need _to relax a little or I'm going to run out of energy before we even get off the bus in Pompeii…_ Venus internally berates herself for feeling so paranoid.

Venus checks in with the tour guide ensuring that her and Astraea are both present and he gestures for both of them to go wait over by the tree near the bus until it is ready for boarding.

* * *

Venus and Astraea had gotten back to the city so late that Venus had to leave her sister to go to the nightclub where she is meeting a contact tonight. She had made Astraea promise to go straight to the hotel room. Although, once they had gone their separate ways, Venus regretted the tone she had used in her rush to get to the nightclub in time to meet her contact from the assassins. Astraea isn't a child anymore… She could have spent the evening doing something else, but for Venus the paranoia of them being caught in the lens of the Templars is at the forefront of her mind. And she had let her concern for her sister get away with her and ending up treating her like a juvenile… _Which she hates…_

Venus enters the crowded nightclub, silencing the people immediately around her. _I was told to go and dance and that the person I am meeting would find me._

So, she goes to the bar, orders a quick shot, to blend in with the crowds of people waiting for their alcohol, and then she moves out onto the dance floor. Venus easily integrates herself into the mass of people dancing to the electronic music with the heavy, fast tempo music. Before long she has a group of people all dancing similarly around her.

"You certainly know how to make yourself known when it suits you." One of the people in the crowd steps in front of her and begins to dance closely with her. Venus immediately recognizes the dark hair and ice blue eyes of an old friend.

"Emmett, it's been a long time." She puts her arms over his shoulders, "I take you're the one I'm meeting today then?"

"Naturally." He chuckles a little bit, "I'm here to let you know that you shouldn't have to worry about being tailed right now." Venus narrows her eyes a little bit.

"Why? It isn't like they've all just up and retired, right?" He chuckles again.

"Well, according to our sources there is something going on internally. While Shaun was making sure your trail is disguised, he told me that they had found evidence of something big happening in Egypt."

"What would _they_ want in Egypt?"

"Now this we aren't completely sure of, but there have been whispers about a tomb belonging to an ancient assassin…" Venus ponders the new information as the song shifts with the DJ's mood, "Bill is going himself to investigate. Aquilo and I are going with him, along with a couple others of course."

"Well… That is certainly news then isn't it? Thanks, Emmett." The pair leave the dancefloor, "Take care."

"You take care too, Venus." Venus then leaves the nightclub to head back to the hotel where Astraea will likely be waiting up for her.

Venus mulls over this new information… She wishes she had more of a gift for remembering history like Nyx and her mother… Venus can only recall that there was something significant about an organisation that would later lead to the Brotherhood that had been formed in Egypt in the early First Century. But any details about it escape her… She had always been more interested in the Italian Renaissance crop of assassin history.

She arrives at the hotel and heads straight up to the room, which when Venus enters, is found empty. Venus rushes around the room checking the bathroom, and the desk and tables for a note or some other indication as to where Astraea was.

Venus' heart begins to pound, the room doesn't look disturbed… But the Templars have taken people and left no evidence before… _Please, be okay…_

Venus sends Astraea a message with the hope that she will answer right away.

Then Venus receives an answer within the minute.

_Raea*— Sorry!_

_I lost track of time…_

_I'm on my way back now._

Venus slumps onto the bed in relief. _I'm going to kill her for that_.

Once Astraea returns, Venus can't help but let out the frustration of having been so worried about Astraea.

"Where did you go? I was so worried when I got back, and you weren't here… What would I have done if you had been abducted or worse killed?" Astraea only makes an apologetic smile.

"I'm really sorry I didn't say anything or leave a note for you… I really hadn't meant to stay out drawing that long… I lost track of time... But don't forget that I'm an adult too. I _do_ know how to take care of myself most days." Raea sits down on her bed, "I know I should have let you know one way or another, but I just didn't think it was going to be necessary at the time… I'm sorry." Venus inhales deeply and huffs it all out at once.

"No… I should be treating you like an adult… I joke about treating you like a kid sometimes, but I guess… To me you are still my little sister. And I guess I still feel responsible for you like when I used to babysit you… I'm sorry too… But _please, please, please_ let me know next time you decide to go draw for hours on end…" Astraea salutes to Venus.

"Yes, ma'am." The sisters laugh a bit before Venus decides to have a shower to help release the tension of the day.

While she's in the shower, Venus can't stop all the worries clouding her mind… She's spoken to Zeph, Lio, and Nyx about it but she really isn't sure if it's the best decision. The rest of them all seem so set that since Raea is unsuited for life with the Assassins, that she should know nothing about it… But Ever since they left on this wonderful trip, the nagging feeling keeps coming back. And it always poses the same question.

Should I tell Raea about it all?

But each time Venus' logic wins out, she knows that her mother is right. That if Raea is told about all this, as she is, she would never go back to being who she is now. And Venus knows for sure that she doesn't want to be the cause behind such a bright light being forever dimmed.

* * *

Venus looks at her watch again, _it's getting into the evening now, and mom and I are supposed to meet a contact on the next ferry… In no later than just under an hour…_

"Alright, did you get your picture?" Venus impatiently shouts across the distance to her artistically inclined sister.

"Yes, I did…" Raea stands up slowly and begins her trek back across the rocks to the river's shore.

"Great! Let's get back to the docks so we can catch that ferry back to Naples!" Venus shouts as she checks her watch again, _mom and I have to get the information from our contact now for me to give to the contact I'm meeting at the party later…_

"Okay, okay…" As Raea hops to a larger stone it shifts as she lands on it, their mother gasps suddenly, even though she knows that Raea is plenty agile enough to handle that…

"Do _not_ scare me like that, Astraea!" Her mother walks up to Raea hands on her hips as Raea walk towards the pair over the grass. Venus looks over to see her mother wringing her hands in front of her with the worry over her baby. _It is kind of a miracle that mom hasn't insisted on a top to bottom inspection of Raea…_

"Sorry, mum. But you know I have better balance than to fall into the river from that."

"Yes, I suppose I _do_ know that." Raea and their mother share a smile before the three of them go back up the slope to the bicycles that they ride back to the rental place near the docks, then they will board the ferry to return to Naples.

"I'm just going to head to the washroom quickly to freshen up." Venus announces as they come to the lineup to board the ferry, their boarding time isn't for about fifteen minutes and Venus has to leave a small signal for their contact to be able to find their table easier. Venus just hopes that Astraea behaves relatively predictably and heads out to take some pictures from the deck of the ferry once they've left the harbour… The ferry ride is supposed to take about one hour so hopefully she can get some good views and will be preoccupied for long enough that Venus and her mom's contact can come and go before Raea returns to them.

Venus makes it back a little before they have to board the ferry and she spots her mother dreamily watching the family in line ahead of them. She hadn't been able to choose how she lived. She like all of us had been born to the conflict. Only by the grace of the Brotherhood was she allowed to raise her children away from it all, leaving each of her children to choose once they were old enough. Although, one condition of that was that she had to ensure that they had to be ready for it should they choose to join the fight. So, each of her kids ended up being trained on the sly using kid's classes and extra-curriculars, as well as a few private lessons with undercover assassins.

Once they board the ferry, they find a table with booth on either side fairly easily and they sit down and wait for the ferry to be on its way. With Venus and her mother next to each other and Astraea across from them. They chatter aimlessly for a while until the horn signals that the ferry is leaving.

"Once we get back to Naples, we'll go get those new clothes! And maybe even a dress for you to show off your curves at the party tonight!" Venus waggles her eyebrows at Astraea, once again attempting to convince her to join Venus at the party happening later, knowing full well that Raea will not come anyway. But Venus must at least seem like she wants Raea to come, mostly so that Raea doesn't feel too left out. Venus hasn't ever really thought about what she would do if Astraea did agree to attend a party where Venus would be meeting with someone for business.

"Nice try. But unlikely… We would have to find _some_ dress to make me want to go to your party." Venus' eyes light up, "Wait…" Astraea tries to backpedal the conversation. But that is too much for Venus to resist. _Can't_ not _tease her with this._

" _That_ sounds like a challenge!" Venus exclaims excitedly.

"No no no…" Raea desperately tries to backpedal it away from exactly where she knows Venus is going.

"And I accept!" Venus slaps her hand down on the table, startling the couple passing by to a table further down.

"Scusi…" Their mom says to the couple before giving Venus _the_ look. Venus looks sheepishly back at her mom.

The three of them chat about more little things and plans for later for a while until the ferry is well away from the dock.

"I'm going to head on over to the washroom… I'll be back in a bit, but I might head on deck for a while to get a few pictures too." _Excellent. Predictable as ever._ Raea grabs her little camera pouch from her bag and leaves the rest with their mom.

"Sure Raea, just make sure to come back before we get to the dock in Naples. I don't want to be saddled carrying your bag of bricks…" Mom smiles as Raea gets up and walks down the hall to door where the little washroom picture is leading the way to the restrooms. Leaving the opposite side of the table empty.

After a few minutes, a man in the signature deep hood arrives and sits across for the two of them.

"Ah, Lukas… It's good to see you."

"Likewise, Aurora." He sits down across the table from us.

"I don't know if you've ever met my daughter, Venus."

"I don't believe I have. Not this one anyway…" He chuckles at his own joke and hold his hand out for Venus to shake. He brings down his hood to reveal a pair of dark brown eyes and wavy black hair.

"A pleasure…" Venus grasps the hand for a quick and firm shake before they get to business.

"There isn't too much for me to pass along… Bill decided to stay where he's ended up. He has a team on standby for if something comes up." That'll be Aquilo and Emmett, "But it seems that that lot tried to release an employee from their services." _Release being a kind word for Abstergo killing someone they wanted to get rid of._ "But things didn't exactly go their way. Apparently, this ex-employee handled it solo. Before Bill even got there."

"Wow. Why would they try to fire such a star employee then?" Aurora asks, Venus marvels at her mom in action, so smoothly picking up on the terminology Lukas is using to make it seem more like they're gossiping about a workplace scandal than a death fight. _I guess there's a lot to be said about time actually spent doing the job._

"Apparently, this person went forward with a project that had been cancelled by the supervisor. And not only did she do it herself she actually roped in a co-worker as well. There isn't any word on whether the co-worker got fired as well, yet anyway."

"Wait… You said they _tried_ to fire this employee what exactly happened then?" Venus interjects noticing that he never did say that Abstergo succeeded in their attempt to kill this person.

"Like I said, this employee handled it. She managed to quit before they got to fire her." He slides a paper across the table, "Here's what the other office had to say about it." On the paper it says that the woman in question, Layla Hassan, had gone to Egypt in search of a tomb earlier in the month, but instead of bringing it to Abstergo, as ordered, she used the DNA of the deceased in her personally upgraded Animus to access his memories. Which Abstergo decided was enough of an offense to off her. So, they had sent Sigma team to storm both where Layla had been in the cave and her co-worker Deanna in a hotel room. But Layla dealt with the whole team sent to her location on her own. That was all before William Miles had even arrived on scene with his team to secure her and her research into Animus technology.

"Well, that's not something that happens with them very often is it?" Venus quips. She slides the papers over to her mother who looks them over.

"You can say that again!" Lukas chuckles.

They chat about some other things, like Venus' dad, Aiden, and how his work is going. What Venus has been doing for the most part. He even asked about whether Aurora would be bringing Astraea into the fold or not. He mentioned that he may have bumped into her, but she had continued on her way.

"Have you heard from Rebecca? I imagine those two are still glued at the hip…" It takes Venus a moment to figure out who her mother was asking about, but then she clues in that she was asking about Shaun and Rebecca.

"Naturally. It would take a lot to separate those two at this point. But last I heard they are doing fine. How about on your end? Last I heard you were making some progress on finding a potential artifact? Is the dig going well?" Lukas is referring to the work Venus' mom had been doing on hunting down Isu artifacts, like the Apples of Eden… Seeing as she has always been great with history, Venus' mom was put on one of the teams following leads on Isu technology.

"Actually, yes, we have made some great progress on the dig. We even found a clue that may lead to another potential site too."

"That's great. I'm glad to hear it's going well." Lukas begins the farewells.

"Same for you Lukas, it was wonderful to see you again." Venus' mom replies easily.

"Likewise, Aurora. And Venus, great to meet you. I can easily say you are nothing like those rascals you call brothers."

"A fact that I am immensely proud of. It was my pleasure, Lukas." Venus responds to Lukas' quip at her twin brothers.

Lukas stands tips his head and walks over to the door leading to another section of the ferry while bringing his hood back to cover his head. Venus checks her watch. _Wow, that took twenty minutes. And now we just have to wait to arrive in Naples and we can go about our day as we had planned._


	6. Lost and Found

**Hello everyone! I hope you're enjoying the story so far! Originally these first six chapters were only three chapters. But with word counts at ten thousand or more I made the decision to split them up a bit... Anyway, this chapter concludes what I consider to be the "prologue" of my story.**

**Thanks for reading this far! I hope you enjoy the rest after this chapter too!**

* * *

Venus

_The ferry to Naples, 2017_

Venus moves over to the opposite side of the booth from her mother. She looks out the window to see Astraea taking some photos the of the land that is going by us to the East.

"So, you really intend on keeping Astraea in the dark about all this?" Venus stares out the window at her little sister for a few minutes as Raea watches the land get closer, snapping the occasional photo as the scenery changes.

"Well, there's no doubt that with all the help you've given her, she is certainly physically capable of it now… But… Her heart and her mind are the same as ever. I think that even knowing about what is really going on will have a hugely negative impact on her. I'm just worried I suppose." Venus turns to see her mother combing her fingers through her hair, "With the rest of you, I could tell as you grew into adults that you would be well suited to what you might end up having to do. And you all have… But I have never felt that way with Astraea." Venus' mother clasps her hands on the table between them.

"Mom… It's okay… We've all seen who she is as a person. Personally, I'm kind of torn between wanting to share it all with her because I love her and wanting to keep her away from it all… Because I love her." Venus puts her hand on her mother's, "But whatever you decide, I want to be able to help you."

"Thank you, Venus. You are a very good sister to Astraea, and I couldn't have hoped for a better relationship between you two…" Her mother stands up, "I'm just going to go to the washroom, won't be long."

"Alright." Her mother walks away leaving Venus with all of the belongings.

Venus was about to get up and join her sister, but now I guess she'll have to wait… Then she spots a handsome looking man approach her from the side. Instead of to the edge of the booth, she shuffles in closer to the window for a better view.

Astraea fretfully smooths out the front of her skirt, _She must be nervous._ Then the man scratches the back of his neck. _Is he nervous talking to her? Awe…_ _Damn it… I wish I could hear what they're saying… Zeph's Eagle Sense has always been better than mine, I bet he could hear them…_

Then they begin to walk away towards the front of the ferry, Venus watches along as she can until they are going around the curve to the bow and Venus has her face pressed against the glass of the window.

"Do I even want to ask?" Venus shuffles away from the window as her mother sits back down.

"I just saw Astraea walk off with a man! He was definitely flirting with her." Venus makes to get up and leave, but her mother grabs her hand.

"Unless he tries to knock her out or something don't interfere." Her mother says before Venus gets up to go to the other side of the ferry.

"Roger." Venus gets up and walks around the ferry to the front on the inside trying to spot her sister and the man. She is about to give up thinking that she might have to go along the outside of the ferry behind them when she spots them paused near the bow of the ferry, or rather as close to the safety railing as they can get.

She then spots her sister sneak a photo of the man, _Astraea, you've got guts…_

Then they continue their trek around to the opposite side of the ferry from where they had started. Immediately, Astraea has her camera up and snapping photos of the island to the north-west, straight out the side of the ferry. While she is taking photos, Venus notices the man staring at Raea. _Please be genuinely interested and not from Abstergo or some shit…_ Venus sends her silent prayer to whoever might be listening. _For how seldomly Astraea even admits to being attracted to anyone I hope this is genuine._

She sits down in an empty seat a little further down from them in hopes of going unnoticed. Then her pocket buzzes so she pulls out her phone to see that her mom sent her a message to have her come back to their table. Venus stands up and give her sister one last look before going back to their mother. _Good luck, Raea!_

On her way back Venus feels a change in the mood of the people around her. People are whispering and traffic going the same direction as her increases.

Once she gets in view of her mother and their table she can see why. Venus sits down at the table and looks out the window to see a monstrous looking storm swallow the view of Mount Vesuvius. It seems the ferry had already began turning while Venus had been en route to the table as Vesuvius is steadily moving further to the back of the ferry. A voice comes over the intercoms asking everyone to please find a seat and to share booths with strangers if you must. The view of the storm sinks further behind the ferry as they turn the ferry away from the dark, menacing clouds.

The ferry abruptly lurches to the side as water sprays up the side of it, sending any still standing people tumbling. Venus had to keep a white-knuckle grip on the table to keep from being slammed into the window. Screams from everyone nearby filled her ears, along with a few grunts and shrieks of pain. From that point on the ferry seemed to be just rocking back and forth on the surface of the ocean even after it turned to towards the island to the north of the ferry's course. After only a few moments did the pair begin to hear rumors about a little girl having gone overboard and the rescue that is underway.

Then the intercom blares a warning and Venus sees some of the people grab the closest solid thing to them, so Venus grips the edge of the table with one hand and the edge of the booth with her other. Then the ferry jerks violently to the side again.

Venus' stomach drops as she realizes that last time Venus saw her, Astraea was still out on the deck. Venus whips out her phone and calls Astraea. Still using one hand to grip the table's edge, her arm beginning to tire from the constant grip.

The phone rings in her ear, each ring tone bringing her more fear for her sister before her sister's voice comes from the other side.

"Hey!"

"Raea! Where—"

"Just kidding! Sorry I missed your call, please leave me your name and number so I can get back to you later! Bye!" Then the beep tone to leave a message for her voicemail. Venus looks at her mother, who looks puzzled for a moment, then she seems to realize the problem and begins to frantically look around, hoping to see her youngest daughter emerge from the crowds of scared people. The conditions outside only worsening, the light quickly being swallowed by the thick clouds becoming tinged with yellow and green, lightning flashing across the sky, thunder crashing all around, and the alarming height of the waves around them.

The ferry continues to lurch side to side, they try to make warnings over the intercom to reduce injury and for the most part it works. The sounds of screaming have mostly died out, but there are the sounds of a few people sobbing not too far away from us and children wailing.

After another fifteen minutes or so of high tension sailing the storm seems to settle down a bit. The ferry is no longer tipping. The skies have begun to lighten ahead of them and the sounds of crashing waves and rolling thunder now becoming distant and muted.

Then someone in the ferry's uniform comes through one of the doors, stopping at each table and seating area to check for injuries. The woman arrives at their table and looks them up and down and begins speaking in decent but not perfect English.

"Do you have any injuries here?"

"No, we don't have any injuries… But my daughter is missing… I haven't seen her since before the storm hit." The woman brings a radio up to her mouth and begins speaking in faster Italian than Venus can easily understand, all she had caught were 'two women' and 'daughter.' Then Italian just as quick answered from the other side of the radio, Venus couldn't make anything out past the static.

"Her name?"

"Astraea." Venus says before her mother had a chance to answer. The woman relays the information through the radio and receives another garbled answer.

"They are asking the other places to see if she is… in a…" A pause while she thinks for a moment, "there. I will come back to you after finish this." The woman begins to walk away.

"Wait, may I have your name?" Aurora asks the woman.

"Laura." She replies quickly before moving on to the next area of the ferry.

The sound of the intercom turning on brings the entire ferry to silence to listen. The announcement came over the intercom in Italian first, again Venus found she was only able to pick up bits and pieces. Next the announcement was in French, and then finally English. A different sounding voice for each announcement.

"Ladies and gentlemen. We are now travelling to Ischia Island to the north-west of our current location. It seems we have managed to navigate away from the worst of the storm that seems to have come from the east. The Italian Coast Guard is currently en route to escort us to the island where they will be providing any necessary medical care. Our crew has already combed through to find the worst injuries and will have spoken to any of those in the most immediate need of attention. We ask that you please stay where you are unless a member of our crew is escorting you somewhere. If you have any questions or concerns, please direct them to a member of our crew and they will help to the best of their ability. Thank you for your patience while we deal with this unfortunate turn of events." The message was then repeated in German, then the intercom went silent and people began low-voiced chatting.

Venus and her mother spent the next five minutes with their heads on swivels hoping to spot Astraea come from behind a crew member or another passenger. Until the woman, Laura, returns with a more official looking crew member in tow.

"This is the Captain's… Assistant Mateo Rossi." Laura gestures to the man next to her.

"I'm Aurora Thomas, and this is my daughter Venus." She holds her hand out to the man who shakes it and then Venus'.

"A pleasure ma'am, miss. If you could please come with us, the Captain needs a word." Venus notices the difference in English skill between the two people.

"Sir, is this about Astraea?" Aurora asks the man.

"Ma'am, if you could wait until we are on the bridge the Captain will tell you everything she knows."

"Okay…" Venus' mother passes her bag and Astraea's bag over the table to her. _Jeez, mom wasn't kidding when she said this is a bag of bricks… What the heck is Astraea lugging around in this thing?_

They follow the man through the ferry and up a few flights of stairs, most of which are label 'Crew and Employee Access Only' or 'Restricted Access' in Italian, French, English, and German. Venus supposed that they must want to cover all of their bases and have as few excuses as possible for people being where they don't belong.

Finally, Mateo, opens a door to a space that must be the bridge. Inside are already what seems like a lot of people who definitely look like civilians. Mateo walks over to a woman talking with a family and she turns around to look at Venus and her mother. She then shouts a couple of things in Italian and all the crew members in the space respond before she walks over to them with Mateo.

"Mrs. Thomas. Miss Thomas. I am Angela Rossi, captain of this vessel. If you don't mind following me to more private quarters." _This woman's English is damn good_ , "Darin? Since our other parties involved are native English speakers, we will discuss this in English. I know you're up to the task." She must know this Darin person, a tall Italian man steps forward.

"Of course. That shouldn't be a problem for me."

"If you have trouble with any of it just ask me. I can't very well leave my girlfriend's brother high and dry." _Ah, that settles that._ Angela leads the way out of the room with Mateo guiding the family she had been speaking with before. The group leaves the bridge but only to go just down a hall to another door that opens to something that looks like a break room. It has a fridge, counters and a coffee machine, as well as a couple of couches and some chairs to boot.

"You will want to sit down for this." Captain Angela says to us, but as Venus follows her mother to the couch to sit down, they pass by the man that the captain called 'Darin'. Grasped in his hands is an unmistakable camera pouch. The sight of that pouch causes Venus' stomach to drop through the floor and her ears begin to ring. Things get out of focus for a moment until her mother places her hand on Venus'.

"First I would like to apologize for all of this. I have never seen a storm appear quite so suddenly… I've seen fast storms, but that monstrosity was unbelievable. We as a crew were wholly unprepared for something of that magnitude. If there had been anything like that in our reports of the weather from the mainland, we simply would have delayed the departure or perhaps even cancelled it. Now. Mr. and Mrs. Davies, I believe that you would have been the closest to the event, if you please." The woman and the man, who Venus now recognizes as the father and mother who had been ahead of them in the line to board the ferry on Capri. They look over at Venus and her mom with sad eyes. They bring forward the little girl who had been in the pink dress. The edges of it are poking out from underneath a towel wrapped around the little girl. Along with some bandages on her arm and a sizable goose egg on her forehead that has some bruising around it.

_I wonder if she is the little girl we heard the rumor about earlier…_

"We had heard the announcement over the intercom, but our Isla was too excited and got away from us…" The mother begins, her accent lightly British, "It had only been for a moment, but that was when the ferry tipped sideways the first time. She had just bolted away and towards the side of the ferry where the storm had appeared… We fell over when the ship tipped… And once we…" The mother's voice cracks, and she covers her mouth and looks away. The father with a much more pronounced accent takes over.

"By the time we were able to stand Isla had disappeared, fearing the worst we went to the railing only to spot her adrift in the waves…" The father clears his throat, "We had to secure our other two… and we didn't even notice the woman who had been thrown against the railing just a little ways away from us…" He takes a deep breath in. Venus' heart begins to pound. _No… Please, please no…_ "We were preoccupied with keeping our other two secure and didn't notice her until… Until she dived in after our little girl."

"I had ordered my crew to get everyone into the ferry for safety, so most of them were preoccupied with that and had not even been present to see the little girl go over board. It had been Mateo who saw what happened and reported it to me. But Darin had already been en route with some crew." Captain Angela adds as a note to what the father was saying.

The father looks up at Venus' mother, "Your daughter is very brave. I can't thank her enough for this, I still have my little girl because she didn't even hesitate to jump in after a complete stranger." The father pats his daughter's head.

"Thank you Mr. and Mrs. Davies… Darin, I understand you can tell the rest." The man nods briskly. Then it hits Venus like a freight train. This was the man that Astraea had been with…

"Well, Astraea and I had been… Chatting. She had taken some photos of _Isla Ischia_. Then she noticed that while after we had started talking the _Isla_ had gone from right in front of us to almost straight in front of the ferry. She decided to go check the other side of the ferry, and I had gone inside to find a crew member and meet her over there. We had gotten to the door to the deck and opened it just in time to see Astraea dive into the sea." _But then… Where is she? Where is my little sister?_ "We immediately went for a life saver and looked for her in the water. We didn't see her right away but then we spotted the pink of the little girl's dress. I shouted at her and threw the lifesaver as close to them as I could. She had brought the girl to it and put it around the little girl with herself holding on to the outside of it. By then more crew members had arrived on the scene and we began to pull the two of them back towards the ferry, getting ready to bring them back aboard. But in that time the storm had also gotten closer and stronger… At first, it seemed like Astraea had been trying to shield the girl from the waves, but as they got closer, they got turned around and Astraea was between the ferry and the lifesaver. There had been a strong wave that pushed them against the ferry, but Astraea had managed to hold on. It had been then that one of the more skilled swimmers of the crew had jumped in to help them. But the storm didn't let them recover before another larger wave came and pushed them against the ferry again. Then we lost sight of Astraea." _No… No no, please… Please no…_ Venus wanted to scream. "I think this must have fallen off her wrist before she jumped to help the little girl." Darin steps towards them and passes Venus' mother the little camera pouch.

"The coast guard already knows we lost one overboard. They have already sent out alerts to all vessels in the area, as well as all ports in the vicinity." The captain kneels down in front of Venus' mom putting a hand on her shoulder. Venus' mother's face is a blank stare, trails of tears showing on her face as she reaches and hugs the captain, trying to hold it in, but Venus can hear the little sobs escaping. Darin steps closer and places the camera pouch in Venus' lap. Venus pulls the pouch up and holds it against her chest, her mind sinking further into shock.

* * *

For Venus, the next few days passed like molasses; a slow, sticky blur. There had been a few days where she tried to walk around in Naples, but she kept imagining her sister every time she saw something that would make her stop in awe or take a picture. So as the days had passed, she found herself staying in the hotel room longer and longer. She had stayed in the hotel room for an entire day just yesterday. Even today, she had been watching the news earlier in the day, just letting it be the background sound as she flipped through Astraea's photos from her camera. She had gotten through a quarter the pictures when she found one of herself… It was a photo of Venus on top of a bridge looking out over Venice's canals. Venus didn't even remember seeing her take this photo. At that point she ended up needing to put the camera away. Then on the news there had been a whole section with the Italian news anchors chatting while a photo of Astraea, taken from a social media account, was being featured in the background. A picture of the ferry came up, then the little girl and her family. There were a few interviews from people who had been on the ferry. One had even been another Canadian tourist who saw Astraea dive in after the little girl, the interview had been in English with the Italian translation streaming across the bottom of the screen.

At that point Venus turned off the TV and just sat in the hotel room. Alone and in the silence. She had only moved to close the curtains when the sun started to shine its radiance into the room.

Even now Venus only sits in the room. She doesn't notice her phone ringing, until only a few moments too late. As she reaches for it, it stops ringing. She had been zoned out again, in the back of her mind she knows she shouldn't be letting this get to her… _At any point, any one of my family could be taken away from me by the Templars… I can't let it get to me like this every time… But why did_ she _have to taken from me? She hasn't done_ any _harm to anyone… Why would it be her? Why would the world take her away?_

A knock on the door brings Venus back to reality.

"Who is it?" She asks as she walks over to the door and unblocks the peep hole to take a look at who is knocking.

"It's me, Zeph…" Sure enough, on the other side of the door is her brother. She looks around him carefully to make sure he is alone, at least she hasn't lost all her sense as an Assassin… She opens the door and lets her brother in. "Venus…" He looks around the disaster of a hotel room, "What are you doing?" He pulls his sister in for a hug with her looking at Astraea's bag on the other bed. It hadn't been bricks inside, it had been rocks… And the reason she hadn't answered her phone was because it had been on silent inside the bag.

"I… I couldn't do anything…" Venus reaches her arms around her brother, "This whole trip… I was trying to be extra cautious… I would watch the shadows and look for possible escape routes everywhere…" She can't stop the tears anymore… "Then when it really came down to it…" Venus releases all the emotion she had been shutting out since it happened, "When she really needed help… I… I wasn't there."

Zeph just lets Venus cry it all out, they stand like that until Venus has no more tears left. He squeezes her tightly as though it might prevent her from falling apart.

"Venus… You can't control the weather. This is not your fault." He takes a deep breath, "We all know that if she had stayed safe and on the deck until help arrived, that little girl would have died… And Raea would never have recovered from the guilt she would feel from not acting when she knew she could have." Zephyr guides his little sister to the bed, sits her down, and kneels on the carpet in front of her, "We still would have lost our sister. Just a different way… She would have lived the rest of her life as only a shade of what she was… With the weight of that little girl's death forever on her mind. Because that is just who she is. She is kind, brave, creative, loving, and true."

"Yeah… She… Is." Venus looks at her brother, _How can he be so strong? He just lost his little sister too…_

"Now, go and get yourself cleaned up. I'm taking you outside into the sun and fresh air."

"But…"

"No 'but's. You." He points at Venus, "Shower." He points to the bathroom, "Now." He makes a 'shoo' gesture in the direction of the bathroom. And when Venus doesn't immediately get up, he picks her up, carries her to the bathroom, turns on the water, points at the shower again. "Now." He walks out of the bathroom and closes the door behind him.

Venus hears his voice on the other side of the door.

"What did you say?" She asks at the door.

"I said, I'll wait for you out here." Venus smiles and gets a drink of water from the tap before hopping into the shower.

After Venus is done in the shower, she gets ready to go out… She only puts on a little foundation and mascara in the hopes to keep a lower profile.

Then Zeph, as promised, takes her out into the day.

As it turns out, the day wasn't even half over yet. They set out at 11:45 am and went to lunch first before visiting all kinds of touristy places and doing some typical touristy shopping. Zeph's plan to help Venus out of her slump by taking her to enjoy the city of Naples was doing wonders. The dark circles under Venus' eyes were fading by the hour and her smile was beginning to return little by little. Which was lifting a weight in Zeph's mind too… He hadn't wanted to lose two little sisters to one freak storm.

They take the whole day at a leisurely pace, going from location to location when they feel like it. Once they feel done in one place, they move on to another. Eventually the sun begins to set so they settle on somewhere to eat. Once they finish, they decide to call it a day and begin the trek back to the hotel.

"Thanks, Zeph… I think… I really needed that." Zephyr puts his arm around his sister's shoulder as they walk.

"Don't forget that you're my little sister, I can't be losing you. Especially not to some blackout curtained, dingy, depression hotel room." Venus laughs fully and Zeph releases her after one good squeeze. Then for what seems like the two-hundredth time in the day, a group of men whistle at Venus and Zephyr steps around her to walk between her and the cat-calling men. Venus spots him look very pointedly in their direction and then all the sound from the other side of the street stops. Venus snorts a little from trying to contain her laughter.

"You're terrible. Look at them…" All the men walking the opposite direction for the two all have their hands in theirs pockets with a noticeable slump to their shoulders, "You have terrified them… Poor boys…" If those men had had tails, they would have been tucked firmly between their legs.

"Hmph." Zeph looks behind them at the sight of the men, just when one happens to look back at them, notices that Zeph is still watching them, and whips around before speeding up. Which of course causes the rest of them to look back and consequently speed up. Zeph snorts his own laughter, similar to Venus in only the way that siblings can be, "Serves them right."

Then Venus' cellphone begins to sing from her pocket, a call from their mom.

"Yeah, mom? Is everything okay?" At first, silence over the other end, "Mom?"

"Vee… Baby… They found her." Venus' phone slips from her grip and Zeph swipes it out of the air.

"Hey, mom? What did you say? Venus looks like she's seen a ghost." Zeph asks over the phone.

"They've found her. On a small island near Ventotene Island. They've taken her to a hospital on Ischia. I'm getting on a ferry now with the authorities. You two should come as soon as you can."

"Okay." Is all that Zeph can get out, then he hangs up the call and looks over to Venus. Venus who without warning launches herself at him in a hug, where she begins to cry all over again. "Hey now… You're going to get your mascara everywhere." But Venus just couldn't keep it all in, after only just letting herself feel the loss, she is finding out that her sister has been found.

They catch a cab to the ferries and manage to catch one heading out only fifteen minutes after they arrived. For Venus, the ferry voyage felt like an eternity, her eyes trained on the horizon, nervous of another freak storm like last time. But with the sun gone now, all she can see are the glistening stars, not only in the sky but reflected in the calm sea waters. The ferry docks and they disembark, they get to the road and hail a cab to take them to the hospital that their mother had texted to Venus.

Once they arrive, Venus calls their mother, who comes out to bring them to the right room.

"Alright, she's in here… I have some things to finish discussing with the Italian authorities and the representative from the Canadian Consulate." Their mother leaves the two of them at a closed door.

Zeph opens the door and ushers Venus in ahead of him. And there, sitting on the bed facing the window, is Astraea. Her honey blonde hair looking more unkempt than ever with a blanket around her shoulders.

"Astraea?" She turns around to face them and stands. Venus runs over to her and throws her arms around the little sister she never thought she would embrace again. Astraea wraps her arms around Venus and gives her the most comforting and warm hug.

* * *

Zephyr

_Isla Ischia Hospital, 2017_

Zephyr watches as Venus throws herself at the woman in the room. The woman whose emerald eyes well up and begin to overflow with tears as she brings her arms up to embrace Venus. In the light of the hospital room Zephyr spots what looks like a deep scar poking out from the long sleeve of the sweater as it rides up her wrist from the hug.

"Oh, Astraea… I never thought I'd see you again! I didn't know what I would do…" Venus cries into the woman's shoulder.

"Venus… I was wondering if I would ever see you, too… I don't remember much of what happened… But when I came to, I was on a beach and pretty delirious…" Zephyr is very good a picking up on lies, and this woman isn't telling any… But… Zephyr can't shake the feeling that she isn't telling the full truth either… "Zephyr… When did you get to Italy? I thought that you were busy with work the whole time we'd be away…" Zephyr hides any doubts that he may have, she certainly seems like his sister…

And yet… Not.

"You think that I would keep working after hearing that my littlest sister went overboard in a tempest in Italy? I'm wounded." He dramatically slaps his hand against his chest over his heart. Venus releases the woman, and she walks over to him rolling her eyes.

"God, you have _no idea_ how much I have missed you! It feels like it's been millennia. I wish I could've seen you more often, you and your counterpart of course." She grins in the way that only Astraea could master, a heartwarming kind of smile. Something in her manner reassures Zephyr that this is Astraea, his little sister. But something about her seems too different from the last time he saw her.

"I've missed you too, littlest sister." He pulls her in for a bear hug, which cements what he suspected. While this _may_ be Astraea, there is something more going on here… She feels far too strong, and while she may have been working at it for two years, she wasn't doing anything drastic. Nor was she training day and night like some gym nuts do, overall, Zephyr had found that her training for the last two years to be leaning more towards the casual side. And the last time he saw her, her muscles were still mostly soft. This much change in her muscles over only four months shouldn't be possible… She may be ever the talented one, but that doesn't change the human body's ability to build muscle especially without near constant effort. And knowing what she looked like only four months ago… This should be impossible…

In the time they sit in the room, waiting for their mother, the three chat and Zephyr catches up with Astraea about her past few months, hoping to find inconsistencies with what he knows. What he sees are the small things. She keeps pulling the sleeves of the sweater down. Some of the things she is saying don't make sense. Then all of a sudden, as if she remembers something, she says to disregard it. 'That it happened with someone else', or a similar excuse.

 _Something isn't right._ Zephyr thinks…

 _And I'm_ going _to find out what_


	7. Readjustments Required

Getting back into the routine of my life has certainly been proving harder than I expected… It's already January and it feels like I just got back.

At the orders of the doctors, I was home bound with the exception of the occasional grocery run. Venus and Zephyr had come to live with me for the first while. Venus had left for work after three weeks, but Zephyr decided to stay with me. After that first month, I started to get back into some of the things I had been doing before. Going to the gym a few times a week, even going to my job at the café that I had been working at while I was in school. Although, all the extra training I had been doing with Venus' help essentially stopped. The official reason is due to my accident. As for my trips to the gym, I am playing it off as having gone to a physiotherapist who gave me some exercises to help regain some strength. But the reason I have pushed to keep the lessons from continuing, is that I wouldn't be able to explain my sudden jump in skill.

According to most of the people Venus had found to coach me I was one of the most talented people they had come across, but talent cannot explain the presence of skill made by real world experience. And any skilled person would be able to tell the difference straight away. And the people Venus had found for me? I now realize are incredibly skilled people.

Work certainly took time to get back into the daily routine. Being back at that café felt surreal at first, much in the same way as chatting with Zephyr and Venus in the hospital room. From helping patrons and cleaning, to making coffee and snacks. Although, the first week and a half was something of a disaster. Less so with broken dishes and more so that my muscle memory had faded. Which made getting back into the everyday at the café take its time. It was helpful that my boss allowed me to take fewer shifts most weeks.

Luckily, my parents had put me down for a sort of critical illness coverage that gave enough to keep me covered for a while in the eyes of the world. I had also arranged it ahead of time that I would receive an offer of work from one of my smaller companies, which is where I will be able to secure my official income. Despite have near limitless resources I can't have the money appearing out of thin air… Part of that money is going to be one of my Italian based companies giving me a sort of heroics award. This all of course having been a part of my plan as I have fabricated it through the years I've lived to get back to this point in time.

The university in Scotland I had arranged to have my schooling start at gave me the okay to take a break for the at least the next year, but unofficially they are letting me take as long as I need. Since I had taken my first two years of my bachelor's degree with them they already liked my grades.

Although, one of my professors from my bachelor's degree had contacted me asking if I wanted to do a couple of hours helping during the week. She had been my favourite professor from the last two years of my bachelor's, so I said yes.

Not to mention that Zephyr has been sticking around me like never before. I tried to bring it up once, but…

" _Like I would abandon my adorable littlest sister after she had such a traumatizing experience!"_ Which he ended with a bear hug while rubbing his cheek against me. Typical Zephyr.

I wonder if Zephyr is sharper than I thought… He and Aquilo had graduated the same year I had started high school and we had drifted apart because they left for university. Basically, since I got into high school, I have had little to no regular contact with him. Even before the ferry incident the last time I had seen him was probably around… Four or five months. Maybe even longer…

But man, oh man. He has been like a walking pop quiz. He has been couch-surfing at my apartment and every time we cross paths, he brings up something about when we were kids or something else. He has also sneakily followed me while I got errands done a couple of times. Even a few other times… But if it had been me before, I wouldn't have noticed. So, I kept along my way without reacting to him, and I continued with my day as per usual. Work at the café in the late afternoon for a couple of hours, followed by helping out one of my profs, then groceries.

One way or another, he even got into the apartment before me. Note worthy that my apartment is at the top of a six-story building with only inside fire escapes… He must have seriously booked it up the stairs. As curious as I was, asking him about it would give away that I had known he had been following me. And so even now, I have no idea how he managed it, or why he really followed me all day.

I admit, though, it was really nice to spend Christmas with him. For so long, Christmas had just become another day… It had just become a day that passed like all the rest. Unmarked in my time. So this year, with Zeph around, we celebrated it together. Even before the incident, Christmas had been turning into an ordinary day… People always would say they were sure my Christmas is exciting with four siblings around, but really, with everyone working far apart from each other, it was usually just me. Once or twice mom or dad had been able to join me, but the Christmases alone as an adult outweighed those I spent with family.

Aside from that we have mostly just been hanging out together, watching movies, playing games, and just chilling.

The only habit I have brought into my life from my years before is keeping one eye on the conflict that is always happening in the shadows between the Templars of Abstergo and the Brotherhood of Assassins. Seeing as I have been following it on the net since the net was made makes it easier to do on the downlow from Zephyr. It would take a wildly skilled hacker to be able to not only crack the security of my computer but to find any evidence of what I had been watching for. I even have the high security drive on my computer well hidden in the code with hidden files, encryptions, and a maze of folders that can only be found either with absurd luck or equally absurd skill. I suspect that the only hackers skilled enough would be those that belong to either Abstergo or the Assassins. And they have no reason to suspect a twenty-something arts graduate of anything that would affect them. I have never had any connection to the Assassins or Abstergo as Astraea Thomas.

Now it's a week and a bit into January, but at least the temperature is okay this evening. I walk up the stairs to the outside door and hold the key fob up to the panel, unlocking the door. I climb the stairs up to my floor and unlock the door into the apartment.

"Zeph? Are you here?" I call into the apartment. Zeph comes from around the corner that leads to the living room and waves at me before pointing at his cell phone. I wonder if his job is finally calling him back… He _has_ been here for the two and a half months since we got back from Italy. He goes back around the corner and I hear the balcony door open and close. I try not listen, but with my sharper hearing it isn't easy… By the sounds of it, it seems as though someone may need his assistance with something. As I put the groceries away, I wonder if maybe I bought too much if he might be leaving. From the kitchen I can see through the living room to the balcony where Zeph is leaning on the railing with the phone to his ear.

"I am _kind of_ in the middle of something, but it's not anything super important. Or urgent." I can't hear much other than murmuring from the other side at this distance, "No… Aquilo is on another job still…" Since when did Zephyr and Aquilo work for the same person? I guess things changed while I was at school. "I am prepared to come though. So, pass along the location when you can, and I'll be there asap." I close the door of the fridge. _Dang, I definitely bought too much…_ "No, it's no problem. It is more a matter of personal interest that I'm investigating. But I can wrap it up by the end of the day and be on my way to you." I sit down on the couch and turn on the TV, "Seriously Kiyoshi, I owe you for last time. This is my chance to repay it." I try to lose myself in the show, with no success, "Alright, I'll see you then. Stay safe, friend." Zeph opens the door and comes into the living closing the door behind him.

"Was that your boss? Are they tired of you blowing them off for you little sister yet?" He chuckles as he sits down in the chair next to the couch.

"Not my boss, no. But definitely work related. One of my coworkers is in a bit of a tight spot and needs a little help. So, I'll be leaving tonight once I get the email of where they're at." He props his head on his hands with his elbows on his knees.

"I guess I'm going to have to make a giant meal to use all those groceries then." I laugh, but he only lightly chuckles again. Not his usual self… He must have something on his mind, "What's up, Zeph? Something seems to be bothering you…" I shuffle closer to the chair at the edge of the couch. He looks up at me with surprise at first, but it fades into a loving smile.

"You've always been perceptive of the people around you…" He says almost nostalgically.

"You have quite the talent in that department too, Zeph." He sits back in the chair and combs his fingers through his shaggy chestnut hair.

"Yeah, it's not always a blessing either." He looks over at me intently, "You _are_ Astraea. But… Ever since the incident, you don't quite seem like you. And I don't mean it in a PTSD kind of way either…" Shit. I knew he was being careful but… This is on a completely different level than I thought it was… "Please… Tell me the truth." I look him in the eyes as he pulls himself to the edge of the chair, "Please, I know something happened that you aren't telling us." He snatches my left arm at a speed faster than I thought he could move and pushes the sleeve up my arm, revealing the scars that time had left on me. I look from my arm and follow his hand up his arm to his face, my big brother, only looking at me with concern and love. Ever the observant and caring.

"When did you notice?" There's no point in pretending now…

"The night we came to you in the hospital after they found you." He's known the whole time.

"Wow, you are much more observant than I bargained for… Although, I also didn't bargain that anyone else besides mom and Vee would have had time to come and get me…" He keeps holding onto my arm.

"How did you get these? When did they have time to heal?" He traces a few of the more prominent lines of scarring on my arm, "These are not new scars, but the last time I saw you before your trip with Vee was only four months before the incident and you had unmarred skin then! I remember because I goaded you into sparring martial arts with me and then Aquilo. Also, your muscles changed far too much in such a short period of time." He releases my arm and sits back in the chair, "How did you change into a completely different person in such a short period of time?"

"Zeph. Please know that I _am_ still your sister. I have _always_ been." _Literally._ "I don't think I can tell you everything right now. But know that if the time comes when you _need_ to know, I will tell you. Surely you have things that you haven't told me before, right?" That seems to hit him hard, "I didn't say anything because… Well, it's pretty unbelievable, for one. And for the other… I think that knowing all of this will only hurt you, Aquilo, mom, dad, Vee, and Nyx. Especially mom…" I rest my head on my hands as Zeph had done only moments before. Then the minutes of silence drag by, only punctuated by the sounds of Zephyr breathing.

I look over to see him eyeing my now exposed arm and the longest scar that curves from the inside of my elbow to the outside of my wrist. I had gotten it defending a child on impulse. I didn't have the time to draw a weapon and knew that I would heal fully before too long, so I had leapt between the attacker and the child and held up my arm to stop the sword. Incidentally, that alone had been enough to terrify the aggressor in the situation and he had run away screaming 'Demon' at the top of his lungs.

His phones tings at him and he jumps from the sound. Zeph pulls the phone out of his pocket and looks at the screen before putting it back.

"Zeph…"

"Alright. I won't make you tell me, but only because I'm glad that you didn't try to play it off." He looks me in the eyes, "And if the occasion should arise that I feel I _need_ to know, I expect a more thorough explanation." I consider what he says for a moment, this implies that he wants to decide when the time is right for him to know.

"And I will give as thorough an explanation as I think you need at the time. This is not something I can share in a single afternoon over coffee." He squints his eyes at me, "And I need your word that you won't say anything to anyone else. I am very invested in my plan over the next while here…" Though, with this I can see that plan beginning to crumble before my eyes. My carefree decades I have been hoping to have with my family are turning to ash and are getting whisked away by the wind.

"Fine, but I also expect you to tell our family when the time is right. They deserve to know."

"It was always my intention to tell them eventually… But not this soon… If the need arises, I will tell them though. Agreed?" He stops to consider for a moment.

"Agreed." Then he stands and gestures for me to stand also; when I do, he pulls me into a bear hug. His height making it so he can rest his cheek on the top of my head. This is the most genuine hug I've received from him since before the hospital.

"I missed you so much…" I say and he gives a squeeze.

"I didn't have a chance to really miss you, but I was really worried for a little while…"

"I'm sorry. I promise I'll tell you at some point."

"Thank you, Raea. I have to go now; work is calling me back."

"Alright…" He grabs his bag that he had already packed before I even got home and goes to the door, "Take care of yourself."

"I will. You make sure to take care of yourself too." I nod and he opens the door.

"Love you, Zeph." He looks back me his grey eyes as piercing as ever.

"Love you too, baby sister."

* * *

"Be careful, Astraea! I've been hearing about some gang robbing people… Are you sure you don't want Brett to at least take you to the train station?" The manager of the coffee shop, Sherri, asks as I heft my bag over my shoulder. I had been doing the later shifts since Zeph left and now it's been a couple of weeks of it and it has brought me into late January.

"I'm okay with taking you that far if you want me to… I've been hearing some pretty nasty rumours myself…" Brett adds from the sink just around the corner from Sherri and I. Brett is Sherri's son, and usually helps out with everything from baking treats and washing dishes to taking orders at the front and drawing in a crowd with his classic heart-throb good looks. My understanding is that he is wanting to take over the shop when his mom is ready to retire. He's taking a business degree at the university in order to do his best for his mom.

"I'll be completely fine. Don't forget all that hard work I've been doing with my sister the past couple of years." I hold my fist up, "Plus, I've heard that most of the muggings and what-not have been more on the university side of the tracks…" Although… If this exact situation had been even just before the trip, I would have taken him up on the offer in a heartbeat. Even with a good amount of training in martial arts wouldn't deter a confrontation the same way as having a six-foot four-inches tall strongly built man would. I suppose that same logic still applies now that I'm trying to keep my head down to make sure I can keep living my life peacefully.

"But you're also still recovering from that awful business in Italy…" She comes out from the office, "Won't you _please_ let me have Brett escort you to the train?" Brett also comes around from the sink area, wipe his hands in a towel already grabbing his winter coat to leave.

"Oh, okay. If only to give you some peace of mind." Brett smiles while zipping up his coat and we go to the café's door where I zip my coat up and pull on my gloves and we both wave to Sherri before heading out.

"Damn, it's really bitter out tonight. Are you sure you don't want me to just drive you all the way home?" Brett asks as we begin the short walk to the train station.

"Just to the train is fine. I live super close to the station near my condo. Plus, don't you have an exam tomorrow?"

"Yeah, but I'm more than prepared for it." He shrugs his shoulders, "Plus it's not like it is going to hold a lot of significance to my final grade this early in the term." He stuffs his bare hands into his pockets. Understandably too. It is a nippy -37 degrees Celsius… And that doesn't even account for a wind chill, "How about you? I know that you were originally going to start your master's degree at that school in Scotland this term… Are you doing okay?" I look over at him, he's looking ahead down the street from us.

"Yeah, I guess I'm disappointed to be putting it off until next fall, but all the doctors seem to agree that my accident could have unforeseen long-term affects. So, it's probably for the best. It'll all turn out perfect I'm sure." I look into the dark clear sky. This far into the city the stars are not very visible, the bright ones show through, but mostly because of how cold it is. But the thing that has me looking at the sky are the pillars of shimmering light created by the ice in the air reflecting the streetlights. There is something otherworldly about how the ice affects the city lights when it's this cold out.

"Alright, we have arrived at the train station, looks like one is arriving soon too. At least you won't have to wait long." Brett chuckles as he stops, "Text my mom once you get home so she can sleep tonight." He turns around and begins to walk back the way we came.

"Thanks, Brett. Have a good night. And good luck on your exam tomorrow!"

"You have a good night, too, Astraea." He says without turning around. He's kind and genuine, but he can come off as a little arrogant sometimes, he knows that people find him good looking and once in a while he lets it get to his head.

The train ride home goes relatively smoothly only being delayed once by someone not letting a door shut at one of the downtown stops.

When I open the door into my suite, I have to remind myself that Zeph isn't here anymore. It'll take a while to get used to it again.

* * *

Damn. It's a lot later than I had intended… I look out the windows at the cloudy sky. The clouds being turned orange and glowing from the streetlights. All in all, it isn't very dark, the fresh white snow reflects the orange light from the clouds making the night a lot brighter than it would be in the summertime, although it _is_ only February… Late February maybe, but still early enough in the year that the sun has set before the evening is done.

_That doesn't change the hour though…_

At least it isn't terribly cold anymore… Now that February is almost over the temperature improves better during the day, usually reaching a balmy -15 degrees Celsius. Although, I can feel the caress of a breeze on my cheek, there is some good wind coming in… And judging by the sensation of it on my cheek, it's going to be a chinook.

I had been helping my favourite professor grade assignments from her art history class and lost track of time. I walk down the streets at a brisk pace so that I don't miss the next train because this late they don't come around as often. And because I'm rushing, I don't notice the man behind me until a couple of people step onto the road in front of me and begin to walk straight at me. My instincts already know that they mean harm, not that they'll be able to cause any…

I stop dead in my tracks once the, now several, men behind me are the same distance away as the group in front of me. The street is deserted and all the lights in the surrounding buildings are off.

"You know, I was beginning to worry that we had scared off all the people from walking in this area and that we would have to expand our territory to another area." The man ahead of me says loudly to the people around him. They chuckled together; I think they _meant_ it to be intimidating. If we'd met before that Italy trip, I probably would have been.

In total, it looks like there are the three men in front of me and three behind.

I hear the _shing_ of switch blades and other similar knives being drawn. If only they knew how intimidating the sound of a broad sword being drawn is, then maybe they wouldn't even bother with the pitiful knives they have… _I'll bet they're all made of cheap mass-produced metal…_

"That looks like a mighty fancy leather bag you've got hanging on your shoulder." The man in the middle at the front comments as they close the distance to me, stopping about eight feet away on either side. All of them chuckling, whispering to each other, making obscene gestures implying what they intend to do to me once they rob me.

"At least you have good taste…" I pat my hand on the front of the messenger bag over my shoulder, which is indeed leather. "Not that it makes up for sheer stupidity." The group immediately goes silent and the leading man glares at me before jutting his chin up, spurring one of the men behind me to start running at me. I pick a nice-looking spot where the snowbank next to the road lining the sidewalk is likely good and rough from the freeze-thaw cycle that has been happening between morning and night, and it looks well laced with gravel from them sanding the streets.

_I'm glad they haven't started using that beet-juice brine in this area yet…_

I wait for a moment that would seem like mere seconds to him, and just as he would be expecting to connect with me, I sidestep. Then I hook my foot around his ankle and pull. He faceplants the windrow of snow and rolls over screaming and clutching his face, blood seeping from between his fingers.

"Oh dear… You should really watch where you're running. These snowbanks are less like snow than they are like piles of stones at this time of the year. You could do some serious damage if you're not constantly vigilant." The leader clicks his tongue and waves the other two behind me. I guess he didn't realize that that wasn't a fluke.

One swings their knife at me, I duck and swing in behind them and simultaneously hip check the second one into the yard of deep snow next to us. I hear a crack as his head breaks through the harder top layer of snow and he ends up hips deep with only his legs popping out of the snow and wiggling around churning the snow and making it harder for him to escape. And now with four of them in front of me and the leader practically blowing steam out of his ears he begins to shout at me.

"We have a whole other group waiting for us! If we don't come back soon, they're going to be coming over here."

"Well, gee…" I put a finger to my chin, "Now what am I, a helpless young woman, going to do?" Then the three goons all rush me.

When the first one gets to me, I chop my hands upwards at his knife-wielding extended arm sending his knife into the air, and I pull the front of his toque down over his chin. While he struggles with the toque, I snatch the knife out of the air and fling it at the knife of the leader. The one a threw collides with the one in the leader's hand and they both shatter.

_That was a gamble on the quality of the metal… I'm glad it panned out well._

Just as Guy-number-one frees his face, I grab the sleeves of his jacket and pull them hard freeing enough length to wrap the arm of approaching Guy-number-two, who had been aiming for a straight punch, and the leg of Guy-number-three, who had been coming in for a sloppy roundhouse kick. I wrap the sleeves tightly around the captured limbs a couple of times to ensure maximum security of the limbs before flinging the guy-bundle into the yard of deep snow where Wiggle-legs is still struggling. The guy bundle's legs get stuck just in front of Wiggle-legs and their momentum brings Guy-number-one's head crashing into the upside-down groin of Wiggle-legs, whose legs quit wiggling.

The now alone and unarmed leader looks in horror between his pile of useless wannabe gangsters and me. Next, he whips around and abandons the pile of men leaving Bloody-face, who was only just standing up, in his dust. Bloody-face realizes what has happened and books it right behind his leader.

I cross the street away from the scene and towards the trains. I pull my phone out to check the time; _shit, I missed the train and the next one doesn't come for another twenty-five minutes…_

I arrive at the station and grumpily wait for the next train for about five minutes before giving up and calling for a cab to take me home.

* * *

I breathe in the warm near-spring air. The middle of March, settling into the everyday has gotten easier lately. I have been officially cleared for normal work; they want me to be careful none-the-less to avoid provoking possible lingering injury that I may not have noticed. To be fair, they aren't wrong. There had been a lot of injuries that I'd had from the ferry incident. They were just healed while I was under the care of Astraeus and Eos.

Although, the spare time, and lack of a close and watching eye, has made it possible for me to keep up with the developments with the Assassins and Templars.

Just as the thought crosses my mind, I pass an advertisement in a window exemplifying the new Helix system from Abstergo Entertainment. I remember before that when I had been in school the idea of living through the memories of my ancestors sounded thrilling. To see how their actions ended where I am. To see what turns history made leading to my existence. Now? I have had more than enough of ancient people and know enough long dead stories to last anyone an eternity. Literally. Though before, as much as I wanted to, I couldn't afford to spend time lost in the stories of history threaded together by Abstergo. I had to focus on school so that I could afford to spend the money on such a machine once I was finished and working. But now I know it is mostly just a tool Abstergo is using to paint history the way they want it seen and collect data from all who use it.

Then, though, I also didn't know about the shadowy war where both sides want the same end but have irrevocably different ideas on how to get there. And unlike the clean-cut, black-and-white stories of a video game being assembled by Abstergo, where the Assassins are the dastardly villains and the Templars are the shining heroes, the true history of the world is a murky grey where both the Templars and Assassins are too willing to go too far for their goals. Both have committed atrocities. Both have, at times, saved a great many people. Both have had good people. Both have had bad people. Although, the current incarnation of the Templars, Abstergo, is a bit more… Ruthless, than many of its predecessors.

The string of thoughts and memories fills my mind until I'm arriving home. I walk up to the front door of the condo where a moving truck is sitting with a couple of people unloading furniture onto the sidewalk.

_I wonder which suite is being occupied… I really hope it's not the one next to mine…_

The way the building is set up with my suite on the top floor at the corner, and the emergency stairs across the hallway. The empty suite next to me has made it so I don't have any neighbours at all. The closest neighbours I have are across the hall from me next to the emergency exit and I barely hear them unless I'm in my entrance. When I pass the elevator, I can see the protective blankets hung around it, meaning at the very least it is not one of the vacant suites on the first floor.

_Dang it…_

I get up to my floor and open the door to see the suite next to mine open with furniture and boxes waiting to go inside.

_Arghhh…. No… My peace… It's gone._

I get to my door and slide the key into the lock when I hear the new tenant come to collect some more furniture.

"Oh! You must be my neighbour…" It's a man, I turn to greet them, preparing my best enthusiastic smile. And then I'm greeted with a pair of familiar ice blue eyes framed by untamed deep umber waves. I see recognition dawn in his eyes as well.

"Emmett Ramos?" I narrow my eyes, it may have been a while but I would know those eyes anywhere.

"Astraea! Wow! _You're_ my neighbour! Small world!"

"Wow, Emmett. How long has it been? Since high school?" He ponders for a moment.

"I think you had just entered high school when my family and I had moved away because of dad's job."

"That's got to be close to eleven years then… And here we are, neighbours again." I joke to him.

"Once I'm all moved in, we should chat sometime, catch up and the like. I'll tell you how my family is doing, and you can tell me about yours."

"It's a deal, good luck with the move."

"Thanks, see you later." He lifts up a couple of boxes and heads into the suite, then I finish going into mine, close the door, and lock the deadbolt and slide the chain into place.


	8. Returns and Remembrances

I walk around my apartment, pulling my suitcase to the door waiting for my mom to let me know when she arrives. Looking around at all the things in here, it still feels like this apartment belongs to someone else… There are photos of me with my high school friends at our graduation, and photos of me with the people I graduated university with. I've got photos from my travels abroad during my bachelor's degree. Paintings and other art that I made, and my collection of crystals and minerals. I even still have the vintage style photos from the last time me and all my siblings were together. It had been at an antique style photo booth store, where you would dress in a theme and then have the photos done. My favourite is the one with me in the middle and all my siblings around me with firearms, it looks as though they are all protecting me. I always loved how we were in Victorian styled clothes, but now that I've worn them… I know how inaccurate it really is. Doesn't change that I love it still.

There are a few things that I made sure to bring along with me by putting them in a local storage locker before 'planting' myself on the deserted island in the Tyrrhenian Sea. Namely my two most recent sketchbooks, my preserved journal with my memories of Yusuf, some old paintings, and my old hidden blade. I'm sure it would shock Astraeus and Eos how effective of a journal writer I _eventually_ became. There are also the things that I've gained since re-immersing myself in my life. Like the photo of me with Isla and her family. They had made the trip to Canada to thank me personally for the life of their daughter just at the beginning of the month. Next to the photo I have a pile of letters and drawings from her and her family.

My phone dings with mom's messaging saying she's arrived so I grab my suitcase and lockup the apartment before leaving for my adventure with my mom.

I see my mom wave out the window of the vehicle she's driving, and I open the door and roll my suitcase down the ramp to her as she pops the trunk open for me to add my suitcase to hers. Then I hop into the front seat next to her.

"You ready for our little trip to Greece?" I grin over to my mom.

"You know it!"

"No ferries though." She jokes.

"That'll be hard around the Greek Islands…" We laugh together.

We drive away from my condo building. This all happened very suddenly, and luckily I was able to get all the time off from my two half-jobs. It was barely three weeks ago at the beginning of April, while Isla was visiting, that my mom suddenly invited me to go to Greece with her for two weeks while she does some work. She even mentioned that Mesonyx's work is even taking her by that way, so I'll be able to see her for the first time in almost five years. Now here we are, at the end of April less than a week before May and we are leaving.

And now that I have a neighbour that I know personally, and can easily call a friend, I was able to ask Emmett to check in on my suite a couple of times while I'm away.

We get through security with no issues, then after a little while of waiting and chatting we board our flight and take off to Greece.

For most of the flight I just stare out the window, lost in my mind. Of all the places in the world I've been back to Greece the most. A lot of it is because what we had decided after Kassandra and I found each other in Rome in 44 BCE. Which was almost 400 years after we had last seen each other.

* * *

_The crowds are insane. I knew that this was a busy time for Rome and all what with all this stuff regarding Julius Caesar, but this is beyond what I expected. I start making my way back out of the area, snaking between groups and through anywhere I can find an opening. I bump into a woman with dark braids that are all brought to one side where they come together and hang in front of her ear._

" _Pardon me." She says in Latin with a distinctly Egyptian sounding accent as she continues on further into the throngs of people. With more grace than most everyone else here, her movements fluid and steady as she moves out of sight._

_I hear shouts coming from the right of me before I see a bunch of people getting pushed towards me. One trips and thus begins the human dominoes. Ending with me underneath at least three people and on top of one. As we untopple ourselves I can see a fist fight happening just a handful of metres away. The cause of the domino topple. Once the people have removed themselves from me, I stand myself up and turn to offer a hand to the person I ended up on top of._

" _I'm sorry, I tried to not fall, but three people made that impossible." I say to the person as I reach out to them and I look at their faces as they take my hand and I pull her up. That's when I notice a familiar and distinct dark brown braid paired with the unforgettable large, golden-brown eyes._

" _Kassandra?" Luckily, she was already standing, because my hand went slack as I noticed her in front of me. "No, it can't be. That's impossible." I switch to the Ancient Greek language for good measure, if this isn't Kassandra, she will simply look confused._

" _That would be my line, Astraea. How is it you are here?" The person in front of me responds easily in Ancient Greek._

* * *

I always wagered that I had been more shocked to see her than her me, but she has always disputed that fact. After that meeting, we talked for a long time… And at the end of the discussion we agreed to meet on the cliffs of Mount Taygetos once every twenty years. I often found myself drawn to certain areas at certain times. A few of those times led opportune, and unplanned, meetings with Kassandra.

"Once we get there, we'll head straight to the hotel. After that I _do_ have just a _little_ bit of work… But I should be able to meet back up with you in time for supper, okay?"

"Yeah, mom, that sounds awesome. I'll probably wander around near the docks or something… Probably draw." I smile at my mom. I will probably get lost in my thoughts too… Santorini is our first stop and mom probably doesn't even have a clue was lies beneath the waves of that area.

After what feels like a long flight of drifting in my endless sea of memories when we finally descend into Santorini's airport. We gather our luggage at the conveyor and head out to grab a car to Megalochori, where our hotel room waits for us. I managed to get about an hour of sleep on the flight, but the day has begun again for us. I would have hoped to at least get one more hour, but one should be enough for me to get by until nighttime.

Before long, we arrive at the hotel and while I collect the luggage, and pay and thank the driver, mom heads in to check us into the fairly fancy looking hotel.

"Alright, can I ask you to bring my luggage up to the room for me?" Mom approaches me and passes me a key card in an envelop with our room number on it, "I'm running a little late and there's already someone waiting for me."

"Sure thing, mom. I'll probably go grab a snack and putz around for a while, text me when you finish up and I'll let you know where I'm at." I blow a kiss at her as she waves while going through the door. I look at the room number and a young girl in a uniform comes over and offers to lead me to the room, she also helps by rolling my mom's luggage along side her.

We chat a little bit on the way to the room, since my mom isn't here I switch to Greek and the girl seems very appreciative, as she confesses that her English is subpar compared to a lot of people working in the same industry. I tell her that it isn't too big of a deal and to learn it at her own pace. She gladly chats with me and she even gives me some recommendations on things I can do on my own and a couple of choice places to draw that one of her close friends enjoys. Once she leaves me in the room, I take a moment to myself.

I open the curtains to reveal a meager view of the bay between some buildings and the street below. I arrange our luggage, peruse the various pamphlets that have been spread out on the desk, and look through some of the locations mentioned on my phone.

Once I settle on somewhere to grab a snack, I stuff my sketchbook and small pack of pencils, my wallet and passport into my leather messenger bag and head out of the hotel.

I walk through the town and come across a street food vendor, where I pick up a quick snack. I sit down to eat it on a stone wall just at the end of the street. Then I begin my stroll for some sight seeing and drawing. I stop and sit once I find something I would like to draw and depending on the conditions of the area I do either a quick, loose sketch, or I do a more in depth well shaded drawing. There are a few spots where I break out the charcoals just because they feel more appropriate for the location.

Of all the things that have changed about me over my years, I'm glad that drawing isn't one of them. I almost lost it once but managed to find inspiration again. I'm glad that I can still find relaxation and inspiration with art. Even if I might have become a monster…

' _I love your art… And it shows that you are human. Remember that. You are still a human and still worthy of love and happiness.'_ As I look out over the bay, the words float through my mind and they bring tears to my eyes. I squeeze the ring on the chain around my neck, Yusuf had said that to me… He had been one of the only people that I had told about my circumstances… Somehow, he had broken through to my over-guarded heart. He had accepted me even after I told him about everything. And he hated it when I called myself a monster. Every time I said it he would berate me, he would remind me of my emotions, my wishes, my dreams, anything he could draw on to make me remember who I am. And it worked. Over the almost nine years from when we met to when he was killed, I became more and more like my old self from before that day on the ferry in Italy. And in his final letter to me, he requested that I always remember him and what he would tell me. I only wish we could have had more time… Over time, I've been able to not hurt so much over losing him, but I can still feel the empty space left by his absence in every moment of every day. The pain immediately after it had happened had been unlike anything I had ever been through before. Even compared to when I had regained my memories near the extinction of the Isu, realizing that my family was all more than ten thousand years away from me. And when I had lost Yusuf… I had gone to Masyaf in a blizzard and nearly let myself freeze over… Luckily for me, Ezio and Sofia had come along and saved me from myself. It took me a long time to return to Istanbul after that. But I did return after a few decades had passed, it had been Ezio's last request of me that I return to visit Yusuf's grave… And so I had.

Since, I have visited Yusuf's grave every few decades. The last visit having been about seven years ago. Each time the city had changed, and it would take some effort to find a way to get to it.

The sun re-emerges from behind the puffy clouds and reels me back to Santorini. I pull my phone out of my pocket to make sure that I don't look like I've been crying and see that the time is already almost six o'clock. _I should be hearing from mom soon…_

I stand up and go across the path to the railing and lean against it looking out over the water glistening in the evening sun.

"Astraea? Is that you?" I hear a familiar and unexpected voice that draws my attention to the person approaching me from down the road. I smile at her.

"Kassandra!" As she approaches, I can see that it is certainly her, it seems that she has adopted a business-casual style with her neatly pressed slacks and blouse with her hair done up in a tidy bun. "How are you? I didn't expect you to be here…" But if she's here…

"I am well, I'm here because it's almost time." My heart clenches a little bit… It's almost time… She puts a hand on my shoulder, "It will probably be a few months yet, but yes…" I pull her in to a deep hug and she hugs me back. It took the weathered misthios a long time to get used to the whole hugging thing, but I managed to get there and now she easily accepts the hugs, from me at least.

"I know you've waited a long time for this… I'm glad for you, but I will miss you." I say to her while giving a tighter squeeze for a second.

"Thank you…" We step away from each other and go to sit down on the bench. "I'm glad to run into you like this. But I'm surprised to see you here… Shouldn't you have been reunited with your family by now? I thought I remembered you saying that the incident happened in 2017…" She adds.

"Well, actually…" I start.

"Astraea!" I hear my mom's voice from down the road and see her waving at me with Mesonyx walking along beside her, with Mesonyx's wheat blonde hair loose around her head, which is unusual for my older sister… Typically she prefers to keep her hair tied out of her face. Kassandra turns to see them as well and I see a glowing smile grow on her face.

"That's my mom and my eldest sister. I would like to introduce you, but you have to act like we met when I was at school in Scotland for two years, okay?"

"Of course, my friend." We both stand up from the bench and walk towards them.

"Hey, mom. Nyx! I feel like it's been forever!" I go up and hug my sister.

"And look at you, Raea! Vee told me about your progress, but it's another thing entirely to see. I am so proud of you!" Nyx comments on my loss of weight, she sounds thrilled for me, but her pewter eyes seem distant.

"Sorry, I'm a little late Astraea… It took longer than I thought." Mom puts her hands together in a play prayer for forgiveness.

"It's no problem, mom. I just drew and wandered around. I even ran into a good friend from when I was away." I gesture to Kassandra and she steps towards them a little more holding her hand out to shake.

"I'm Kassandra. I heard a lot about you from Astraea while we were living near each other." My mother shakes Kassandra's extended hand and then Nyx does.

"My name is Aurora, pleasure to meet you. I don't get much chance to meet my daughter's friends from her time in Scotland."

"I'm Nyx, Raea's oldest sibling."

"It's a pleasure meeting you both." Kassandra steps back a little bit, "Although, with how much Astraea spoke of her family, I feel as if I already know you." Kassandra jokes earning laughs from both of them.

"We all spend so much time apart from each other that she doesn't get to tell us much about her friends, so I'm afraid you have an advantage over us…" Mom says to Kassandra, "And I'm also afraid I have to cut your reunion a little short… The place we are going for supper is going to close soon and I've already called to secure a table."

"Of course, I won't keep you." Kassandra replies, "Raea, would you mind getting together for a little while tomorrow?"

"Of course, did you have a time and place in mind?" I ask my old friend.

"How about right here, say around… Eleven in the morning?"

"Sure, I'll see you then, Kassandra."

" _Chaire_ _, palié mou file._ " _My old friend_ …

" _Chaire."_ I give Kassandra one more quick hug before going off with my sister and mom.

"When did you learn Greek?" Nyx asks, sometimes I wish I had a less observant family.

"Kassandra taught me a little bit while we were neighbours, she also helped me a lot with other troubles of being alone." I laugh to lighten things a little bit.

"Jeez… Is there a language you can't learn?" Nyx pokes fun at my innate ability to learn language. _There are not many I don't already know…_

"It's just always come so easily for me…" I chuckle sheepishly _._

"She seems likes she has been a good friend to you." My mom puts a hand on my shoulder and gives a squeeze.

"She really has, she's a wonderful person."

We go for our dinner and then walk back to the hotel and admire the sunset along the way. We chat in the lobby area of the hotel for a while until Nyx has to catch a taxi to the airport so that she can catch a flight to wherever it is she is going next.

Come to think of it, I don't really know what kind of work Nyx does. But, for that matter, I don't really know much about what my whole family does for their jobs. They never talk about their work when they're with me; at least not past the initial answer to me asking them how their jobs are going.

Mom and I end the day with a bath each before heading to bed, where she reads for a while and I flip through my day of drawing. Where I happen upon one page full of Istanbul. From the lofty spires and the Tower of Galata, to the hideout belonging to Yusuf's Brotherhood. And a few portraits of Yusuf, it seems that I can't go a single drawing session without his face appearing on at least one page. I close the book and lay on the bed opposite my mom and flick my light off before laying down to drift to sleep; at least for the few hours I need.

Eventually, she also turns off her light and nestles underneath the covers and before long we both fall asleep.

* * *

I glance around the overlook, but see no Kassandra, so I sit down at the bench and pull out my sketchbook again. I let my mind wander while my hand guides the pencil over the paper.

Luckily, my mom had a little more work stuff to finish up today, so I was able to come here alone. So, I will be able to really talk with Kassandra for a while. Our last meeting on Taygetos was… 2010. _I wonder what all she's been up to since then_ …

" _Chaire_ ," Kassandra says as she approaches, my pencil stopping on the paper as I look up at my dear friend.

"Kassandra, I'm really happy that we happened upon each other like this…" I say as she stops in front of me for a second.

"I am too, Raea. I'm so happy for you that you have finally been able to rejoin your family." She sits down on the bench and we hug. I see her look down at my sketchbook as we settle back on the bench, "You still miss him…" Surprised I look down at my sketchbook page to see an almost fully shaded portrait of Yusuf.

"Yes… I think I always will…" I slide my fingers across the page, my hands have drawn him so many times over the last four-hundred years that they remember easily what he looked like. Kassandra places her hand on mine.

"I know…" She does… She lost her Natakas so many years ago, and like me, she has known loss over the many years, "I'm sorry that I will be causing more pain for you soon… But I'm also glad to finally be passing on this burden," She places her hand on her bag where the Staff of Hermes Trismegistus surely is, "As Aletheia has said."

"It seems we are both achieving our goals; me to have my family again, and you to finally join yours once more…" I say as I close my sketchbook, "I will miss you. But I think that, more so, I'm happy for you. You fought so hard to have your family back then, only to have to stay behind here as they all passed." I look out over the gleaming Greek waters, "I'm glad I get to have some final time with you, even if it is a little constrained time-wise…"

"I am too. There is something I wanted to give to you… I thought about seeing if I could mail it to you. I recall you saying that if I ever needed to contact you while you were with your family to go through your company, but I find myself no longer needing to do that." She pulls a little pouch out of her pocket and passes it to me. I open it and find a few small pieces of paper and a couple of keys, "These are the location to, deed for the property holding, and keys to open my last cache. I have already dealt with pretty much everything I had plans for, but I want you to have the rest. It's my way of thanking you for your centuries of friendship."

"Kassandra…" I slide the items back into the little pouch, "I… Thank you. For everything. For every time I helped you, I'm sure there were at least as many times where you helped me. You have been an amazing person to call a friend."

We stayed there chatting for a while, she mentioned seeing the piece in the news about my temporary disappearance in the Italian seas, and about my miraculous rescue from the small island. After hours of talking, my mom came with the news that we would have to leave Santorini a little bit early due to a change with her work.

"I'm sorry, Raea. I know you're glad to see your friend, but we have to leave this evening. But since the flight isn't until after sunset, if you want Kassandra, you could join us for dinner."

"That sounds lovely." Kassandra says as we all get up and go find somewhere to eat. At Kassandra's recommendation because she had already been here for a little over a year now.

Dinner goes smoothly and at the end Kassandra strolls with us back to the hotel which was only a couple of streets away.

"I'm just going to finalize our check out, then we can go and get our things." My mom says as we come in the door of the lobby.

"It's too bad that you have to leave so soon… Santorini has become a lovely island from what it was when I first stepped foot on it." Kassandra comments quietly in Ancient Greek to me.

"Yeah… But I'm fairly sure a few other things have change since then too…" I reply in the same tongue, while waving my smartphone at her.

"Are you going to tell them?" She asks tilting her head towards my mom at the front counter.

"I… I don't know…" I sigh deeply, "I promised my brother, Zephyr, I would explain eventually. He's too clever and figured out that I wasn't quite the same… But for now, I just want to spend time with them. I've waited so long, and I don't want all of _that_ to get in the way…"

"That does sound like how you always described your brother… I'm surprised you didn't see that coming." She grins at me the way she always has when she makes a jab at me.

"I'm not all seeing…" I put my hands next to my eyes and wiggle my fingers, "I didn't even think he was going to be in Italy, and I thought that I wouldn't have to worry about seeing him… So it did kind of throw me off guard and he saw right through it."

"Sounds about right!" She chuckles a little bit, "But this won't be an easy thing to keep to yourself… Do you have any friends who know besides me right now?" She logically brings up; I think about the people I consider to be my friends…

"No… No, I do not… I have a few people that I trust certain parts with, like the person running my business in trust right now. But no one really knows..."

"You know what _he_ would say…"

"Yes… He would remind me that I'm still just a human, and that we aren't meant to keep burdens like that to ourselves."

"And he would be right. All of that is too much of a burden for one person to bear alone. I've been fortunate to have you along to share the burden but after this… You'll be alone with your knowledge. And I know I can't truly understand with the time difference between your existence and my birth alone, but as your friend I care. Please know, that even after you shared everything with me, you have never seemed anything other than human to me." She puts a hand on my shoulder. "For my sake and for the sake of his memory, please tell at least one of your family." Kassandra implores as my mom walks over to us.

"Okay, I will… Thanks for everything, Kassandra." I give her what I know will be my last hug to her. She's said that she isn't afraid of death like she maybe would have been before, and that one of her only regrets would have been if she had left before I was able to be with my family again. And now that she has seen me with my family, I'm sure she feels less burdened over the imminent future. I've… We've had a lot of goodbyes, and we both knew that this goodbye would come sooner or later… But… That knowledge isn't making the actual goodbye any easier…

We both give a final squeeze and step back from each other.

"Have safe travels, I'll miss you. My old friend." Kassandra says in English.

"I'll miss you too, Kassandra." I look my oldest friend in the eyes. There are so many things more that I want to say…

"It was lovely to meet you, Kassandra. Thank you for any help you have been to my daughter." My mom says to Kassandra as she stops beside me.

"Your daughter was a great help to me too." She puts her hand on my shoulder as if to say, _I know what you want to say…_ " _Chaire."_

" _Chaire…"_ I respond as she turns and leaves the hotel. I put my hands in my pockets and grip the little leather pouch with my last ties to her inside.

Mom and I pack up our belongings pretty quickly, mostly because there hadn't been much opportunity to really settle in. Once we're all packed, we head down to the lobby and hand in the key cards. Then we go outside into a cab that was already waiting for us and head back the way we came to the airport.

We breeze through security and onto our plane, and mom lets me have the window seat, the sun has set, and the sky is growing darker to reveal the stars.

"I'm sorry we had to leave so suddenly like that… My job decided to move my work to Thessaloniki and the area around it… Then after that I'm actually being asked to go finish up a few things for a co-worker in Istanbul. I can send you home before that though if you want… I know this isn't exactly how you expected this trip to go…"

"Honestly, mom, it's fine. I get to tour around Greece and unwind a little bit." I take a breath; this won't seem like old me at all… I had never expressed interest in going to Turkey or Istanbul beyond admiring the Hagia Sophia, "And actually, if you don't mind… I would like to see Istanbul." She turns to face my more fully, her eyes wide with surprise.

"Really? Alright… If you want to come with me to Istanbul as well, I did promise you a two-week trip…" She digs in her bag a little bit and pulls out a folder of papers, this is the closest I've ever been to seeing documents from her job… I know it's strange to not know what job your parents do, but I never thought about it until after high school, and by then it was like a switch had been flipped. Suddenly, they had no more children to tend and they were both suddenly inundated with jobs abroad.

"Okay… So, starting tomorrow I have four days in Thessaloniki, then we take a train to Kavala and then Alexandroupoli. We are spending two days each at those cities… And then we take the train from Alexandroupoli to Istanbul. I've got three days there… Then heading home." A spike of pain in my chest makes me want to tell mom everything. About that day on the ferry and all the years that happened after… And why going to Istanbul is more going home than returning to that apartment.


	9. Sunrise

**Hello! This chapter is a tad bit longer than the rest... I just couldn't really find an appropriate place to cut it. So extra long chapter it is.**

**As always, I am completely open to constructive criticism. Although, please be gentle with this chapter as it is my first real attempt at anything remotely close to romance.**

**But I hope you enjoy reading it none-the-less.**

**Thank you so much for reading!**

* * *

Istanbul

1503

_Looking out over the city like this is so peaceful… You'd never think of the turmoil that the city had been through to get to this point._

_Not to even mention how much happens on the streets here. It's been about a week since I arrived, and while I don't plan to stay long, I've already acted in favour of some victims of unfortunate circumstance… Like the two kids who had stolen three apples from a cart the other day, so I went and gave the vendor a little extra when I bought some produce for the first few days of my stay. There was also the group of thugs that had cornered a young couple in an alley way. And the homeless man I pretended was my father-in-law to keep him from being arrested by an errant and unnecessarily aggressive Janissary. There were a couple of smaller things too, but I can't keep going like this… I'll end up making too many ripples in the water._

_Not to mention that each time I do something like that I make myself avoid the district I did it in to try and let the ripples settle. So now I find myself in Galata district to the east of the tower. I have found a decently secluded rooftop on which I have a great view for drawing. Which seems to be a popular commodity around here and could very well make me some good money. So far the best view of the city overall has been this one…_

_And the Hagia Sophia… From here the way the sun accentuates the domes is absolutely stunning. I turn back to my sketch pad, sliding the charcoal over the paper to deepen the shadows to make the brightly lit sunny areas seem all the brighter. I wonder what it looks like on the inside right now… It's already been a little over a thousand years since it was first built, I think. I'm fairly sure that it is being used as a mosque by this point…_

" _That is a lovely drawing…" I look over to the source of the voice, mostly confused because I situated myself on a lonely rooftop out of sight of any Ottoman guards patrolling the area. I see a tall man leaning against the wall. He steps closer and leans in to get a better view of the charcoal sketch. He brings the smell of the spice market with him and his dark hair is hanging in curls around his face some of them being held back by an orange and yellow brocaded headband with a turquoise piece wrapped in and hanging next to his face. He steps back again giving me a good look at the clothes he's wearing, and I understand how he came to be on my secluded rooftop. He's an Assassin. Which is also why I never noticed him arrive… Fully trained Assassins are about the only thing that can still sneak up on me. Even Assassins in training have too heavy of a step to sneak around me. "Do you mind if I join you for a while?" He speaks in Italian, with a bit of an accent. Considering how central Istanbul is to culture and trade between Asia and Europe right now, it makes sense for him to know Italian, at least to a degree._

" _No, I don't mind." I try to ignore how breathtaking the smile that grows on his face is, and how striking the glacial lake turquoise of his eyes is… Then it hits me that I've met him once before… In Spain. That would have been about… Eight years ago, in 1594. Although, we hadn't even gotten so far as to introduce ourselves, so I doubt he remembers._

" _Thank you." He then joins me in sitting and looking out towards the Hagia Sophia. I continue working on my drawing, filling in the shaded areas. I still miss the availability of rubber erasers… I did snag a chunk of a natural rubber-like substance while I was travelling in the northern regions of Africa, but I try to use it sparingly, as it practically cost me an arm and a leg. That, and Europeans have only just 'discovered' the Americas where the rubber trees grow. I have tried a few of the other drawing methods preferred by the Renaissance artists that are still leaving their mark, like silver point and just pen drawing, but just as I was in art school, so I am now… I love charcoal and how it can capture the depth of darkness in an image._

_Mostly, I'm glad that with Leonardo's influence I was able to hang on to the part of me that loves to create art. Although, I still worry about how close I got to losing that part of me. How close I got to letting myself sink irreversibly into becoming the monster I have struggled to grow away from. The monster that I really am at my core._

" _You have captured the Ayasofya beautifully." I pause drawing for a moment and appraise my progress._

" _This has been my favourite angle so far… The spires are at an angle that I can see them all, but they aren't blocking the main structure." I gesture to the spires and the dome respectfully._

" _You also have a grand view of the city." He gestures to the city between us and the grand mosque._

" _Constantinople is a beautiful place. There are so many things to see."_

" _There are many things that Istanbul has to offer. Especially if you know where to look." I didn't realize that it was being called Istanbul already…_

" _Istanbul?" I ask him, watching him gaze out over his city with an expression of love._

" _Ah, yes… This is a place with many names, but 'Istanbul' is becoming a local favourite." He says, I then return to my drawing and he simply sits silently, as a catchy song that doesn't exist yet hops through my mind._

" _If I am not mistaken, I believe we have met before…" He starts, causing me to look up at him._

" _I didn't think you remembered…" I set the drawing down on my lap, "It was eight years ago after all… And almost on a different continent." We face each other a little more._

" _Surely you don't think that I would be able to forget that encounter. You certainly made an impression on that travelling noble when you refused his advance." He chuckles at the memory of me slapping a nobleman who had tried to pull me into his carriage. That had definitely instigated the brawl that came after between the noble's guards trying to pull me into the carriage and the Assassins who had come across the scene, "It all happened quickly of course, because I also remember that we never got to introduce ourselves."_

" _I believe you are correct… It was a rather brief encounter." Mostly since the local guard patrols had seen the brawl from afar and came in shouting. So I took the opportunity to disappear from the action and the Assassins had as well._

" _So in the spirit of having met again after these eight years on_ almost _a different continent… I am Yusuf Tazim." He gives a little half bow from his sitting position. I hesitate for a moment._

" _My name is Astraea Lykaios. It's a pleasure to meet you, Yusuf." I hadn't intended on using my true name but there it is. Too late now._

* * *

" _So you've chosen to draw the Grand Bazaar today?" I hardly have to look over to know that Yusuf has found me yet again. This is the twenty-second day in a row that he has managed to hunt me down out of all of the areas of Istanbul that I've visited since the day he first approached me on the rooftop in Galata. He usually stays with me for a few hours. We chat idly while I draw. He talks about his city. It had been about the eighth day I informed him that we could converse in the Arabic that he is familiar with and I would be able to get along perfectly fine._

_The passion he holds for Istanbul is a rare thing._

_I can't stop the trill of joy that flutters through my chest as I hear his voice. I can't stop it, but I have to deny it. Even if he were interested in me that way,_ which I'm sure he isn't, _it wouldn't feel right to have any kind of full on relationship with someone in the past… It would prevent them from having a family or growing old alongside the one they love. No one deserves to have such an empty future._

_No one except perhaps a monster like me._

" _Yeah, although it seems less busy than I saw it before…" I comment as I slide the charcoal over the surface of my paper._

" _Yes, the popularity of it often reflects how thickly the Janissaries are patrolling it in a day. You've chosen a nice rooftop to avoid their attention though." Yusuf says as he sits down next to me, closer than usual, as I feel the edge of his bracer brush against my arm._

_We sit like that for a little while just chatting about little things until I set my drawing things down next to me and just watch the people trickle in and out of the bazaar, only now noticing the number Janissaries marching around. After I bring my drawing back to my lap, I steal glances at him more times than I would like to admit, getting caught once or twice before abruptly turning my attention back to my drawing._

_Each day that passes with him around makes it feel more normal. More welcome. More… Warm._

" _How would you like to go for a tour of the city tomorrow? Led by a veteran Konstantiniyye explorer, of course." I glance his direction to see him looking at me with a severely disarming grin._ I could stare at that smile for days and not get bored…

Woah, woah! _I reign in my thoughts again and take a deep breath._ Bad mind. No.

" _Sure, a tour sounds great, I could do with a day away from drawing. I've made enough_ _akçe to tide myself over for at least a month."_

" _Just with the drawings?" Yusuf exclaims more than asks._

" _Yeah, I just take them to one of the street market areas, ask to borrow a space for a small sum and sell everything I've made over the previous days. Usually, I do this at the end of the fourth day of drawing or so… After you've gone back to your Brotherhood." He coughs a little bit._

" _I didn't know you were aware of the Brotherhood." He admits clearing his throat._

" _It's kind of hard to miss the robes… And the hood you seem to like neglecting…" I reach over and flip the hood over his head playfully, "There you go. Now you really look the part." He leaves the hood up for barely a second before flipping it back down._

" _But then how could I see your face properly?" He asks quietly. An image of me reaching over and kissing him flits through my mind unsolicited._

No. Nope. Bad. No kissing. Not allowed.

_I mentally swat the image away, but it persists like a gnat for every second he remains close for the next hour._

" _So, tomorrow, shall I meet you at the docks in the morning?" He confirms._ Right… _I did agree to that tour._

" _Alright, I'll see you then." I concede to what I had agreed to. The image of a goodbye kiss jumps to the forefront of my mind._

No!

_Then I watch as he vaults himself up the roof and free runs to one of the adjacent buildings before using a zipline to sail away. I bite my lip to curb my errant thoughts._

* * *

_He holds a hand towards to help me step off of the ferry, I don't really need help, but I take the hand anyway. Then the unwelcome image from lifetimes ago flits through my mind… One of a couple walking across the street hands joined. With the woman staring at the hands with a blissful expression._

" _So how did you like the tour? I know we didn't go inside most of the places… But I hope it was to your liking…" Yusuf chuckles as he releases my hand before doing a dramatically flourishing bow._

" _It was wonderful…" I let slip before my mind can stop it, I clear my throat a bit, "It has given me a lot of new material for drawing… I should be able to make plenty of_ _akçe for a while now."_

" _The sale of drawings has been getting more popular. I wonder if you might have anything to do with that..." He says as he looks over at me and grins causing my heart to race a little. We begin to walk and I find my eyes often wandering to his hand,_ I wonder what it would feel like to walk like that man and woman in Italy…

_I do my best to ignore the feeling of my heart beating faster and attempt to reign in my thoughts before his irresistible smile clears my whole mind._

" _I do believe this is where you've been boarding, correct?" He says as we stop at the modest stone building that I've been calling home._

" _I suppose I have your profession to blame for this knowledge?" I ask him playfully, before reaching over and pulling the hood over his head again leaving only the view of his grin out of the shadow._ I want to kiss those lips…

No. _I chastise my thoughts for wandering that way again… This is becoming more consistent than I would like… Compared to this my restraint with Ezio was damn near saintly._

_Although, with Ezio there was almost a sense of ease for the act that made it effortless to let happen. Even though, it hadn't helped the way I had wanted anyway. That being the reason I never did it again._

_This is completely different…_

_Yusuf slides his hood back down and I almost see his hand begin to reach over to my face._

" _Well, I best get inside before it gets too late. I am only borrowing this space after all." I stammer out before I take the few steps towards the door, "Today really was wonderful… Thank you." I say quietly before I begin to close the door._

" _Goodnight, Astraea." He says tenderly, I watch his smile as I close the door._

" _Goodnight… Yusuf."_

* * *

I wonder how long it will take Yusuf to find me today… _I find a captivating scene of him pulling me in for a kiss dance through my imagination. The scene plays out further and further until my heart is racing just from my imagination._

_Shaking myself out of my reverie I see that I haven't even gotten more than a few scribbles onto the page before me._

When did I acquire such a gutter mind?

_Then a shuffle beside me brings my attention to the present, where five less than intelligent looking men are standing with their arms crossed in front of them and their crotches thrusted forward at what looks to be an uncomfortable angle._ Maybe to look more intimidating? _I stand up and begin to evaluate the five men before me._

_By the look of them, I'd say they're here more to seem intimidating than to actually cause harm. Maybe I can weasel my way out of a conflict… Because a conflict of five versus one is highly likely to get the attention of the Janissaries. Which is attention I could do without._

" _We got a business with you, girl." The man in the center front spits onto the ground beside him._ This is not off to a good start. _"This here is our turf. And we know you been cashin' in on those fancy doodles of yours. We demand a cut of whatever you earnin' from 'em." He condescendingly jabs in my direction._

" _Maybe I would listen to a business proposition from a more… Articulate person. But I can't in good conscience believe that anyone official would send someone as… Incoherent as you." The taunt slides through my mind and off my tongue as easily as butter before I can even think to stop it, and he begins to fume._ This guy is too easy… _"I will not be listening to any 'demands' from you."_

" _Now you listen 'ere, you stiff bitch." He takes forceful steps towards me, slamming his feet down with each step. Once he gets to me he snatches up my collar and punches me right in the nose. I hear it break as my head goes back from the momentum, "You're just some prissy, foreign cunt! You got no—" I cut off his blabbering with a swift knee-thrust into his groin and grasp his collar as he sinks to the ground._

" _Since you've just thrown the first punch, I will take that as permission for what I'm about to do." I say loud enough for his goons to hear as well before I bring him closer to my face and stare him in the eyes, "Don't you ever forget what is about to happen." I whisper sternly at him._

_I punch him right in the nose before tossing him aside while his two of his four goons run at me. Having already noted my surroundings I angle myself appropriately and as the first gets to me I lean down. In one efficient movement, I force my shoulder into his abdomen and as he goes limp, I straighten and toss him off the roof we're on and into a cart of hay in the street below. In reworking my footing to toss Goon-number-one, I stomped my heel onto Goon-number-two's foot._

_While he is still howling in pain, I grab his head and bring it down to meet my knee moving up. His howling stops and he slumps to the ground._

_I turn to face the remaining dumbasses and they are just standing their eyes wide. They had drawn weapons, one shamshir and one stiletto dagger. But they are both rooted to the spot._

" _Grrrr!" I shout as I take a large step at them and raise my arms, which causes both to drop their weapons and scream while running away over the rooftops._

" _Well… I had run all the way here to save you… But… I guess that wasn't necessary." A familiar voice says while barely holding in laughter. I turn to see Yusuf hoping down from a higher roof. "Instead I find myself wondering whether I should try to have you join my Brotherhood…" He jokes as he appraises my handiwork._

" _I can fend for myself against losers like these guys." I put my hands on my hips as he approaches me, getting closer than he normally would his eyes fixed on my bloody nose. His scent of spices filling the world around me so effectively that it pushes past the metallic scent of my blood. He brings his hand up but stops when we hear someone shout at us._

" _You! On the roof! Stop!" We both look to see a group of Janissaries climbing up a neighbouring roof and begin to strut over to us when Yusuf snatches my hand and we both run away from the guards._

_We run over the rooftops for a while, Yusuf leading the way and often looking back to see me right behind him._

_We take a sharp turn and hop into a narrow back road that is covered just a few steps away. Taking to running again we back track underneath where the Janissaries would be running now. If I had been alone my speed alone could out match them, but only someone incredibly familiar with the streets would have known so actively where we were in order to pull this off so smoothly._

_Yusuf snatches a piece of fabric hanging from a line as we go by and he passes it to me to cover my face with._

_Then before I know we are slowing down and emerging right at the entrance to the Grand Bazar._

" _Impressive, you aren't even out of breath…" He says between quicks breaths since he is out of breath. He grabs my wrist and begins to pull me along, I can feel my heart begin to beat faster, "Even your heart…"_

" _Even my heart?" I prod for him to finish._

" _Well, I was going to say that your heartbeat isn't even that strong for all the running we did but…" He pauses as we shrink against a wall to avoid the gaze of a few Janissaries, "Anyway, we are going to the shop of a friend." We rejoin the crowds in the Bazar and weave our way through them all the way to a plain looking door and we slip in just missing the attention of a group of on guard Janissaries as they come around the corner, "Piri? Are you here?" He calls into the shop space._

" _Yusuf? Was it you that caused all the commotion in Bayezid district?" A voice calls from around the corner at the end of the shop._

" _Piri, have you no faith?" Yusuf asks as we get around the corner, I hang back as I reset my broken nose and bunch up the piece of fabric to soak up the blood._

" _In you? No." The voice quips wryly. Yusuf just laughs as he waves me around the corner._

" _As much as it would please me to take credit for this one, it was all her work." He gestures to me as I come around the corner to see a grand-looking man behind a desk with documents everywhere._

" _They started it." I say as I pull the fabric away from my face, the bleeding having already stopped._

" _Astraea, this is Haci Ahmed Muhiddin Piri." He presents the man at standing up at the desk to me, "Piri, this is Astraea. Can you keep her here for a while, I'm going to get her some fresh clothes to wear." Piri waves to Yusuf and he turns to leave the store again and I just stare after him._ I'm sure it's just the adrenaline from being chased that has my stomach turning over. _Thinks the oldest person…_

" _If I didn't see the blood on your face I would say you were a graceful house cat, but apparently you are a lithe tiger." He gestures to a chair and I sit down as he passes me a damp cloth to wipe away the blood and as the smell of blood fades from my nose, I can smell the distinct odor of gunpowder. He busies himself for a few minutes while I gaze around his space, until he sets a cup of tea before me._

" _Thank you." I take a sip and he nods before going back to his layers of papers._

" _So, when are you two getting married?" He asks without looking up from his piles of papers and I choke on the tea that I had just sipped._

* * *

_It has now been several days. And there hasn't been a peep from Yusuf. Let alone the scent of the spice market appearing while I draw the afternoons away. Somehow I find myself craving to have that scent near… I never knew I could want to have a scent around me so much._

_Now here I am… Looking at a plain building across the street from me. The location my sleuthing has led me to. And I thought it would take a day or so… But it only took one afternoon of following Assassin trails._

How did I even end up letting myself do this?

_I survey the unassuming building in front of me. Using my heightened senses ability I can see that there is a fairly large subterranean space underneath the next few buildings._

But where should I wait?

_I spot a domed roof at the top of the building, so I climb my way up there and am floored by the stunning view allowed to me in this spot. It is more exposed than I normally choose, but the view is spectacular. Glad that I had brought my smaller sketchbook along with me I pull it out of my bag and begin to draw._

_A few hours pass by and I begin to wonder whether I made the right decision to come here… But then I lose my chance to doubt as I hear a light chuckle from the next roof over._

" _I had been a little alarmed when someone told me that there was a stranger on our roof… But now I'm just surprised." Yusuf's voice light as he hops over to my roof, "Did you choose this roof by coincidence, or design?" He sits next to me._

" _I'd be lying if I said there wasn't some level of effort made to find this particular rooftop. I wanted to thank you for your help last time. But, you didn't come find me, so I had to get creative." I close my smaller sketchbook that I use for my personal drawings, "But, I can't recall you ever mention what a great view you have up here." I just to the view before us._

" _This is certainly a wonderful view." He says almost quietly, I can see him just looking over at me though, so I try to ignore it._

_We sit in silence for a moment, my mind wandering to places I'd rather it not go and the fact that Yusuf is sitting closer than he usually does is not helping with the wayward fantasies that continue to plague my mind whenever I'm… Well. All the time now really._

" _I have been dealing with the Thieves Guild in the city. It seems that the ones who attempted to accost you were members of theirs that were already looking at being severed from the organisation. They've been exiled now though. Their attempt to swindle and attack you was something of a last straw. The Thieves here, despite being Thieves, stand up for the people who typically cannot stand up for themselves. And despite some obvious efforts on your part, they have noticed that you've done a sizable amount of helping those in need. Although, they had also noticed how carefully you hide all traces leading back to you, so they were not going to approach you at all." Yusuf explains carefully, "The leaders had all agreed to let you do as you please in any of their areas, but not all of the members had agreed since you seemed to be making good akçe with your drawings." He scratches the back of his neck a little, "It seems that the group who approached you had done so with the intent to intimidate or beat you into giving money to the Guild in the hopes that it would look as though you were willing paying the Guild some kind of tribute."_

" _Which they hoped would result in getting in good with the leaders. I guess they expected some kind of meek lamb of a woman…" I come to the conclusion that Yusuf leading up to and he just nods the confirmation and chuckles a little at my choice of words._

" _I… Told them that you have… Ties with the Brotherhood, which did get a good reaction out of the men you had beaten." He chuckles a little bit, "Either way, the Guild's final decision after all of our discussions was to have them exiled from the city. The Mercenaries and the Romanies have also both been informed of the status of the five who attempted to attack you."_

" _Well, I admit that I didn't expect anything to come of it…" I haven't had that kind of defense in a long time… "I… That wasn't something you had to do… So… Thank you…"_

" _Maybe I didn't_ have _to do it… But I_ wanted _to do it. For you."_

* * *

_The sounds of clashing metal float through the air as I walk through the streets. The area is full of tension. People walking as though the road were made of eggshells. While this is one of the more ragged districts people aren't usually so… Skittish._

_I follow the sound of the skirmish through the side streets to a grassy hill that leads to a small stream with a few of the remnants of the Romans scattered around. Standing next to a building, I watch for a couple of minutes to get a handle on the situation. That's when I notice that there are a handful of the people involved wearing the iconic Assassin robes. The other party looks decently armed… But they don't look official in any sense of the word._

_Next I find myself dashing into the fray._

_I shoulder check one man away from a prone Assassin and he is launched into a ruined stone column. I race across the skirmish to another attacker about to land a finishing blow. I reach him, grab under his pauldron, roll myself over his back, and use that momentum to toss him to the other side of the stream._

_Then at the center of it all I see Yusuf standing in front of a frightened group of children their backs to the stream, he seems to be protecting them from the battle. But I see one begin to arrive behind Yusuf and the children. I race that way snatching a dropped sword along the way as the new arrival raises his shamshir. I skid along the ground to get there before the man and just as he brings his weapon down towards the back of one of the children I slide into place between them. I raise the sword up to stop the shamshir bearing down and managed to deflect it mostly, taking a minor slash just above my right bicep._

_The man is then dispatched by a thrown knife protruding from his neck as the sounds of the fighting die down._

" _Astraea… I… How did you end up here?" Yusuf asks as his Assassins finish off the remaining assailants._

" _This skirmish wasn't exactly quiet. It had the whole district on edge. I'm sure word will be getting to the Janissaries…" I comment, lying that I had been a little worried when he hadn't arrived where we have been meeting unofficially for the last couple of weeks._

" _I don't imagine they care enough about this area to do very much about a local disagreement. They care more about the richer districts than this one… Which is why groups of thugs like these ones seem to feel entitled to ruling here." He says with a note of sadness in his tone. Then I hear shouting getting closer through the streets._

" _Yusuf, there is a group of men coming this way now." I tell him as I face the direction of the shouting to try and hear who they could be, and contrary to Yusuf's thinking… "They are Janissaries." I say shortly. Yusuf then gets the children to all run. And his Assassins scatter, two helping the ones who had been prone get up and begin to run away. Yusuf waves for me to follow him as he climbs the hill towards the crumbling section of Roman aqueduct and begins to climb the side of the aqueduct, using his hook blade to speed up his climb._ That blade makes it look near effortless to climb that high…

_Once I get to the top he crouches at the edge and watches as the group of Janissaries fills the area by the stream and they begin to investigate the area._

" _How did you know they were Janissaries?" He asks as we watch them scour the area of the conflict, "I could barely hear them at all." He turns to face me a hand goes to his chin in thought._

" _I have really good hearing… It's how I was able to find you. I…" I close my eyes, hoping he doesn't distrust me after this, "I understand if you don't believe me. I can…"_ Leave. _I find the word won't leave my lips. Then a pressure on my right shoulder._

" _You protected that child without even knowing what the circumstances of the fight were. Why?" His question brings my eyes to look up at his._

" _A child… Even growing in conditions like this, is completely full of potential. Circumstance shouldn't be the reason that all that potential is thrown away… So if I am in the position to prevent the death of a child, or anyone really, I'm going to do it. Plus with you defending them, could I let myself do any less?"_

" _Carelessly of your own welfare as well, it seems." His hand moves the remains of my sleeve aside to reveal the slash, almost healed enough to stop bleeding, "You should have said something. I wouldn't have made you climb all the way up here with this." He puts pressure on my other shoulder to have me sit down as he pulls some bandage out of a small pouch at his hip._

" _I'll be fine. I have more than just good hearing… It just needs an hour or so before I can get on the move again."_

" _That makes you—" He starts._

" _A monster." I finish for him and he shakes his head at me._

" _Incredible. That makes you incredible." He says as he wipes away the blood on my shoulder. With how close he is I see a small cut on his chin, so I pull out a handkerchief from my own pouch and gingerly wipe the blood off his face with my mind completely silent. Silenced by his words. Silenced by his eyes. Silenced by his care._

* * *

_When did he work himself so completely into my mind?_

_Every waking moment that passes is full of him… I can't keep my mind on other things. Only yesterday the landscape I was sitting to draw didn't end up on my paper. His face did._

_I can't let this keep going… It isn't fair to Yusuf._

_I cannot give him the life and love he deserves. He deserves someone who can grow a family with him. He deserves someone who can grow old with him once his life with the Assassins cannot continue._

_And…_

" _And I cannot provide him those things." I say out loud to myself, the words said into the space around ring so true in my heart that I can feel it breaking, "I… I cannot tie him to a love that has no future. I do not want to bind him to the same emptiness I must live."_

I should leave Istanbul.

_The past couple of months have been euphoric… But… I'm a monster, and I cannot taint his life any further than I have. I just hope it isn't already too late… Because even if it is, I must leave._

_I don't know what kind of repercussions tying down a sixteenth century man could have. What if me having him erases an entire lineage of Assassins from the world? I cannot risk that._

I need to leave Istanbul.

_I stare into the darkness of the room I'm in and tears begin to fall. This realization should not have taken so long… I've been selfish with his attention… I didn't even realize that's what I was doing, but now it's so clear. Perhaps in thirty more years I could come back here… And if he still lives he could understand why I had to leave._

_And now that I've realized all of this, I must tell him that I need to leave._

* * *

" _How unusual! The same spot two days in a row."_ Since I didn't draw the landscape at all yesterday… _Yusuf sits down next to me on the roof,_ I have to tell him I'm leaving tomorrow, _"Today I have some business in the Bazar, would you like to join me for a while? I see you already have some drawings to sell."_ But I need to say it before his scent and manner send my thoughts away.

" _Alright, but there's something I should tell you before we go." I was going to just say it all at once… But the words won't come out._ I don't want to leave. Istanbul is amazing… And…

" _What is it?" Yusuf asks, he voice taking on the more serious tone._

" _I… I'm leaving Istanbul tomorrow." I manage to force out. Yusuf just stares out over the city and hums a little._

" _How about a bargain then?" He stands up and offers his hand to me, a grin on his face that melts my resolve to leave. I take his hand and he hoists me up._

" _What did you have in mind?"_

" _One week." He says simply, "One week to let me convince you to stay. If at the end of the week you genuinely want to leave, then I will step down."_ I already want to stay…

_I look to where he is still holding onto my hand and I take a breath. I_ should _tell him no… He deserves so much more…_

" _Please." Yusuf pleads quietly._

" _Okay… Only one week though. Then I'm leaving." I try to sound more decided than I feel, but I just hope he can't see right through me._

" _Excellent! We will begin this as soon as I finish at the Bazar!"_

_We descend to the streets and stroll to the Grand Bazar and naturally we go to Piri's shop. Yusuf and Piri speak for a few minutes while I busy myself admiring some of the books on Piri's shelf._

" _I'll be back here in just a little while; do you mind waiting? Piri just needs a quick favour." Yusuf says after he finishes speaking with Piri._

" _No, I don't mind. I'm sure that Piri and I will be fine." Piri gestures to my folder of drawings and I nod to let him look through them while some tea brews._

" _Great! I'll be quick!" He goes out the door and Piri beckons me over as he pours the tea and sets it on his desk in front of me._

" _So, now that Yusuf has gone on my less than honest favour, I will ask again. When should I expect to see that you and he are married?" Piri launches into the question again. That was so close to the beginning, and yet… "You are in love with him." He states looking at me over his tea, "You know that, right?"_

Yes.

No.

Maybe? No, maybe not. _I have felt it so seldomly that it is hard to identify._

" _And he is certainly in love with you. So what is the problem?" He asks candidly. I take a slow breath in, still working my mind around the new information._ Could Piri be right? What other reason would Yusuf have to try to convince me to stay? _My heart leaps at the thought, but my mind only races over how I can abandon it all, for his sake._

" _He… He deserves more." I state simply before staring into the tea in my hands._

" _More? You seem like a perfectly suitable woman to me." He sets his own tea down on the desk._

" _I seem so because that's what I present to the world. Even if… If I love him, he deserves more than an empty future with me. He deserves someone who can give him a family, and memories as he grows old with them. I can't give him those things. I…"_ I am a monster… And I don't deserve love, least of all from someone as bright as him.

" _Doesn't Yusuf get to have a say in what he deserves?"_

_Piri says nothing more. He just lets me consider it all while sipping tea. There must be something that comes from having your body age, because despite the fact that I have easily lived one hundred of his entire lifespan, Piri seems so much wiser than me._

" _Piri, here is what you were wanting. Although, he seemed surprised to have it picked up by me…" Yusuf says as he comes into the shop and places a small parcel on Piri's desk._

" _Perfect. And Astraea, I would like to buy one of these. How much?" He slides a drawing of the Hagia Sophia out from my folder._

" _How about I think about your advice and do my best to take it to heart? And we'll call that even." Piri just chuckles at my answer._

" _Hmm… It's a deal. But in this case I expect good results." Piri states as we leave, and he raises his eyebrows at me expectantly._

_We walk the market a while and a few people approach me, wanting to see what drawings I have today, recognizing me from previous sales. Then we pass by an art seller who spots me._

" _Are you the foreigner who has been selling drawings of Konstantiniyye?"_

" _I am." I say cautiously, worried that he might feel as though I've stepped on his toes._

" _May I have a look?" He gestures to my folder that is currently hoisted on my shoulder. I bring it over to him and bring out the drawings. He gently looks through them one at a time, "These look as though they were drawn by one of the Italian masters! I would like to buy all of them. And if you want I would like to act as your exclusive seller if you'd permit me to." The young art seller beams at me over my drawings._

_It would be convenient to not have to worry about where to sell them…_

" _Alright, I will sell these to you today, later we can work out an arrangement. If we both agree on some terms of course." We decide a time and day to discuss further on how we can proceed and what the terms of this arrangement would be._

_Then Yusuf and I stroll the Bayezid district for a while before he pulls a peony from seemingly nowhere._

_The whole day the news I shared and his proposition I agreed to are itching at the back of my mind, staining every conversation and each sideways glance at him I steal._

* * *

_I take another sniff of the stunning peony he brought me today. Today's peony is a beautiful mix of colour with a warm yellow in the center and mauve at the edges of the petals. This one is my favourite. Which is appropriate, I suppose, since it will be the last one. I clench my jaw to prevent too much emotion from showing but inside my heart is only breaking further. Each day of this past week has caused the initial break to crack a little more._

_Today I had asked that we have a slow and leisurely day. I wanted to take my time and have my last moments with this radiant sun peacefully. All day I have been stealing glances. Hopefully sneaky enough that he believes me when I tell him that I don't want to stay in Istanbul. I have been practicing saying it every day so that he believes me and lets me leave so that he can lead a full and complete life. Without me._

_So after a slow walk in the nicer area of the city near the royal palace we made our way to the park where one way or another he already had a blanket lain out with a small meal waiting._

_Now we have been laying on the blanket in the shade of the tree for a while now. Listening I notice how even Yusuf's breaths have gotten, so I look over to see that he has fallen asleep. Piri's words float through my mind again, '_ And he is certainly in love with you.'

_I prop myself up on my elbow and lean over him to take a closer look at his face._

I want to remember his face forever. _I do my best to study every detail. The way his black curls settle around his headband, the scar that claims his left cheek and the rosiness that colours both of them. The way his scent makes me feel so light and so full of life. The way his smile seems to push all my worries away._

_Maybe this act of letting someone I love go will prove that I'm not a monster. That I too can act for best interests of others and not just for myself. That I can let go of selfishness by letting go of what I want most._

_I close my eyes and pain expands in my heart thinking of the bag I have already prepared as it waits in my room I've been boarding in for me to leave one final time._

_Then I feel a hand on the side of my face, and it moves to the back of my head before I'm pulled down. All my thoughts turn to ashes as our lips meet._

_Euphoria fills me as I relax into the embrace. Yusuf's free hand comes around my waist, I let him pull me down to him, and I begin to kiss him back._

_My heart is pounding and so full that it feels like it might burst. My hand that had been resting near his head is entangled in his dark curls with my left hand now settled on his chest. With each gasp of breath I let myself sink further. I had grown up with the trope of kisses being compared to fireworks, that amazing kisses made sparks. But this… This is more than just fireworks, this is everything. It is the burst of life and colour that a firework brings, but it is also the fresh warm breeze of spring chasing away winter, and it is the sun bursting through the thick black clouds of a baleful summer storm. This is the only thing I want to have._

_When we both stop and break apart, I rest my forehead against his as we both gasp breath. We both stay still, catching our breath as I reel from the kiss. I didn't know that kissing could feel that way._

_Then, unwelcome, my mind comes slamming back into full gear._

" _I believe you are breathing harder now than after we had escaped the Janissaries…" Yusuf jokes with a light chuckle, "Can I take it that you do want to stay here then?"_

_The question shatters my glowing heart. Remembering myself I prop myself back up from my position of practically laying on top of him. My hand moves from beside him to my mouth._

I do… I do want to stay. But… I can't.

_I sit up and he flows me to sit up as well, with my breath still heavy and my heart crumbling I reach towards his face, but my hand stops inches away from his skin._

_My heart races as though I were standing at the edge of a precipice overlooking an endless drop, a pit in my stomach forms over what I know I must do._

" _I can't." I say with as much finality as my broken voice can muster. Then before letting him answer I get up._

_Then I run._

_I run. The fuel of my pace being the pain of my crushed heart._ If it feels like this for me, I can't imagine how Yusuf must feel right now… _But I couldn't stay there. If I let him talk to me about leaving I won't be able to keep my head. I barely had enough of my thoughts to run._

_I arrive at the boarding house and race up the stairs to the room I was using. Snatching the bag off the floor before I climb out the window and onto the roof. For a few minutes I dash over the rooves of Galata district before deftly hopping into an alley near a busy street. The kiss still tingles on my lips._

_With the sunset looming I hasten to get out of the city before any of Yusuf's Assassins spot me and relay my location to him. Because from what I already know about him, he isn't going to just roll over and let me leave. He will fight for what he wants. He is going to want to persuade me to stay… And since I want to stay more than anything, it won't take much from him to convince me._

_But if I stay this won't be good for him. Maybe it could be good for me, but to stay only for that is selfish._

_The crowds on this street should help to keep me hidden, but if Yusuf happens to have already gotten this far I don't know if I'll be able to hide from a master Assassin while trying to keep my speed up to leave…_

_The crowd veers to the right and as I pass a small side road and a shadow reaches out and pulls me out of the crowd._

_Sure enough… The dark curls of Yusuf's head are leading me around a corner where he stops and turns to face me._

_I couldn't make it out before he found me… I have to make sure to not let his… Him-ness make me forget why I have to leave._

_This is for his own good._

_This is for the future he deserves to have._

_This is…_

_The hardest thing I've ever had to do._

" _Why did you run away?" He asks after a few minutes of silence._

" _Because… Being with me… You deserve so much more… If I stay here… With you… Then all you will have is an empty future when you deserve to have someone who can love you without pause, who can give you a family and future you deserve, and can give you all the memories of a life growing together…" I turn and lean against the stone wall behind me, "I can't give you any of that… A future with me is hardly a future at all. It will only be heartbreak and pain." Each sentence I finish tears my soul a little more, and tears begin to fall down my cheeks. My heart is hammering in my chest but instead of the euphoria earlier all I can feel is a numbing pain. I look to my feet; I can't bear to look at him… I'll break._

" _And I get no say in what I think I deserve?" He steps right over to me, his warm scent consuming my mind, "What about what I think_ you _deserve? And you never said that you_ don't _want to stay…"_

" _I can't stay…" His hand slowly comes up to face, he takes enough time that I could move to stop him, but… I don't want to stop him. He wipes the tears off my cheek before resting his hand there, "I shouldn't stay…" His hand moves under my chin and he turns my face up to look at him. His face displaying the most loving expression I've ever seen on someone as they look at me._

_How did this happen so fast?_

" _I didn't ask what you 'can't' or 'shouldn't' do… I asked you what_ want. _Do you_ want _to stay here?"_

_I want to stay… I want to stay more than anything. I clench my jaw and ball my hands into white-knuckled fists._

" _I don't…" I start but the words stick in my throat creating a lump in my chest, trapping all the other things I should say. Deserve to stay… Want to stay… I dig my nails into my palm to spur me forward._

" _You don't…" Yusuf prods and I have to cast my eyes downward; I can't say it looking him in the eyes. My heart and my mind have never been so at war with each other. My mind knows I must leave to let him live his life. My heart wants only to wrap my arms around him and kiss him forever._

" _I… Don't… Want… To stay." I force myself to say, fresh tears begin to form and fall._

" _That does not sound very convincing… But you kissing me back was very convincing of something else." He states plainly, Assassins are too observant, "Look me in the eyes and tell me you don't want to stay, then I will… Let you… Leave." He nudges my chin upwards again. He struggled to say the last part._ He is hurting just as much as I am.

_I turn my eyes back to meet his, the striking turquoise of them entrancing me._

_I know what I have to say…_

" _I…" I breath deep to try calming the tightness in my chest, "Want…" Our bodies are leaning further into towards each other with each second that passes, "I… Want…"_ To leave. Say . It. _My mind orders, but my heart wavers._

" _You want?" Yusuf whispers, with our faces now barely inches apart his breath caresses my cheek._

_My right hand reaches up and settles gently on his cheek._

_The longer I stare into his eyes, the protests of my mind grow quieter and the voice of my heart becomes all the more compelling._

_All it takes is…_

_Then a little push forward from my heart brings my lips onto his almost desperately. Again all of my worries disappear from my mind as I kiss him. This kiss no less incredible than the first, just as warming, just as invigorating, and just as fulfilling._

_His hand that had been holding my chin tangles itself in my hair while the other that had been patiently waiting at his side moves around my back and pulls me right against him. My hand stays on his cheek while the other mirrors his by tangling itself in his dark curls. He leans us against the stone wall behind me, pressing me against it. My hand moves from his cheek down and behind his neck._

_When our lips part I rest my forehead against his, my breath uneven and heavy; with my heart ready to soar through the skies._

" _This did not help you prove that you want to leave…" I push my forehead against his more forcefully and I can't stop the small chuckle accompanied by a smile, "I love your smile." He breathes._

" _I don't want to leave… I want to stay more than anything…" I move my hands onto his shoulders. A few tears drop from my eyes as I screw them shut._

" _Then stay." He says simply before tipping my head back and kissing me again._

* * *

And it had been less than a year after that that we had agreed to exchange rings, on my suggestion we did not formally get married. He had recently become the leader for the Brotherhood based in Istanbul and wanted to dedicate himself to it, but he had also wanted to prove to me how he felt. So, I had suggested something like a handfasting, where we exchange rings and promises instead of a marriage. I grasp the ring hanging from the chain around my neck, the one that I had given to him and the one that had spent the next eight years on his hand until he had been killed.

* * *

_The stars are amazing tonight… I look over at Yusuf, he is laying back against the slanted roof of the tower, but he isn't admiring the view… He is looking at me with a disarming smile and pulls a beautiful peony from behind him and presents it to me._

I have never felt this way about someone before…

" _You are truly a maiden of the stars. My maiden of the stars." He pulls me in for a deep and loving kiss._


	10. What Once Was Home

Emerging from the memories, I stare out over the modern Istanbul; the city having changed so much since that day Yusuf approached me on that lonely rooftop. Glancing down at my sketchbook reveals that I have drawn the Hagia Sophia as intended, but rather than the Istanbul before me, the Istanbul of my memories decorates the page. I smile wistfully at the drawing; I remember the city well.

Flipping the pages of the sketch I look at the portrait of Yusuf that I had drawn in Greece. Gently sliding my fingers down the edge of the page again, smiling at the memories of my time here. _I'm glad my mom had so much work in Istanbul._

Even after more than five hundred years the city has the same feeling to it. Much of it is the diversity of having been a crossroads of the world for so long, the colours of the markets, and the bustling energy. I let my feet carry me around the city's streets, careful to keep myself from bumping into anyone on the streets.

I admire the wares at market stalls and just let myself exist in the energy of the city, feeling more at home than I have for too long. Even if the feeling of home is bringing memories and pain… Just being here, reminds me of how it felt to be here then, and as much as it hurts to know it's all over… I would rather remember all the beauty and love, and all the pain together, than to never remember any of it.

Coming around the corner of some buildings I am greeted with the view of an open plaza with bistro tables and chairs next to Galata Tower. Making the decision on the spur of the moment, I buy a ticket to go up the tower. Although with Yusuf, I would have simply climbed the outside whenever we wanted to take in the view from the top. The day had begun to turn dismal so there were less people admiring the city from atop the tower than I imagine there would normally be. And so, I stay there for a while, thinking.

Every minute is another memory. His passion for the Brotherhood and for life. His smile… The way his eyes lit up when he thought of something humorous to say. The way his face would soften when our eyes would meet, even across a busy room. The way he became my stalwart defender, chiefly against my own criticisms. His thoughtful nature, considering everyone. That one time that they had to sneak into the palace to prevent harm to the prince Sulieman… Dressed as Italian minstrels. I grin at the memory of the look on his face wearing that ridiculous outfit.

It comes to my mind that I want to visit his grave… It has only been seven years, but I won't likely get such an opportunity for a while now…

Following the streets to where his grave is, I find only a building there instead. _I wonder if they've moved all the graves from this site…_ Anxiety fills me as I wonder whether I will ever see his grave again.

"Are you okay, miss? You seem lost." A woman with a beautiful burgundy scarf on the street stops and asks me.

"Hmm? Oh… Yes…Thank you. I don't think I'm lost… But, there was once a cemetery here… Do you know where I can find out what happened to it?"

"Hmm…. Perhaps try with some of the local historical offices in the area… There is one just about five blocks north of here."

"Thank you, I'll try that." On that I walk in the direction she pointed me, looking it up on my phone on the way there.

Once I arrive, I talk with the people there about the building and what might've happened to the cemetery, claiming that a friend has asked me to hunt down the whereabouts of his grave. They brainstorm a while, they make a few calls, and once they give me some contact information I leave to continue my new hunt.

It takes most of the afternoon but down the line of contacts I come across someone who had been doing research on the Ottoman recapturing of districts of Constantinople from the re-emerging Byzantine forces and had singled out Yusuf as a key player in the power struggle of the city. I had been able to contact them, but by then it was too late, and my mom was expecting to meet up with me for supper. We agree to meet at a café near the site in the late morning tomorrow.

On the streets back to the hotel to meet my mom that I notice a presence trailing not too far behind me. If this had been back when Yusuf ran the Istanbul Brotherhood, I may not have noticed. But my senses have only gotten keener with time someone following behind me without being noticed is harder to accomplish. But I can't deny the feeling of someone following just far enough behind me to not lose track of me. Although, the deftness of their steps and the actual distance between me and them makes me believe they could be an Assassin… A normal person would not be able to keep track of one person in these kinds of crowded streets from that distance… But someone who has a keenly honed Eagle Vision skill wouldn't have any problem keep track of someone in these conditions.

I continue down the streets as I had before, hoping that the could-be Assassin won't realize I've noticed them. The only thing can think of that would have an Assassin following me would be my looking into Yusuf's grave, but even then, it isn't like they keep track of the burial site of every old Assassin… Some of them yes… But something about that idea doesn't click the way the truth would, so I'm leaning towards another reason… I must be missing a piece of this puzzle.

Then the hotel comes into view, so I pull out my phone and text my mom that I've arrived at the hotel. She answers almost immediately that she's just inside the door and will be out in a few minutes.

I stop by the door and look up at the sky then over to where the Assassin would be. Just glancing down the road and around at things trying to see the Assassin, but with no luck. Perhaps if I used my own version of Eagle Vision, I could pinpoint them; but for now, all they've done is follow me. And I don't want to alarm mom. So, I'll just let them follow me.

"Hi Raea, are you ready for dinner?" My mom hooks her arm around mine and begins to walk me down the street back the way I had come, "The receptionist told me about a very good restaurant just a few blocks that way." Mom points down the street across from us and looks for cars before leading me across the street with her.

"I'm looking forward to it. How did it go with your work today?" She smiles guiltily at me.

"Well, it didn't go badly but I definitely have things to finish up tomorrow… But we should be able to spend Wednesday together before our flight home on Thursday. So, you'll have to spend tomorrow alone again, but today went alright for you, right?" Originally, she had been worried about me, but then I reminded her that I had been retrained in a lot of the self-defence skills from my childhood and she seemed to be set a little at ease for it. Now having seen that I successfully spent a whole day alone without being accosted has helped her loosen up it seems.

"It was good. I wandered around a bit, drew the Hagia Sophia from Galata District and then went to the tower too."

"I'm glad you enjoyed your day." She gives me a side hug as we wait for a few cars to go by before crossing the next street. The person following me seems to have stayed behind near the hotel, because they keep feeling further away, until I realize they are staying put altogether. The whole thing seems strange, I'll have to keep vigilant tomorrow for shadows. Hopefully, they will decide I'm nothing exciting and leave me alone…

* * *

I guess I was hoping for too much.

My focus returns to the tea in front of me. The flavour isn't quite the same as what I drank in Istanbul before, but it is certainly reminiscent of it. I savour the smooth taste of it as I await the person who has been researching Yusuf and the Ottoman's clearing out of the Byzantines, or rather, the Templars. Her name is Sefa Aldemir, she is studying history through Sabanci University.

But it seems I regained my tail from yesterday, they are ever observing too. If I hadn't already resumed living my life as it was before the ferry incident, then I would have confronted them… Now, unfortunately, I must pretend to be oblivious to the Assassin, lest I disrupt the lives of my family with the secret war of the world.

"Hello." I look up to see a smartly dressed young woman with almost frizzy, dark curls that are tied to the side with a purple scrunchie, "Are you Miss Astraea?"

"Please, just call me Astraea. You suppose you must be the researcher I called yesterday… Sefa Aldemir?"

"Yes, although, I don't know if I'm quite a researcher yet. I'm still working towards my master's degree and am being supervised for progress every step of the way so far…"

"But hey, you're doing all the footwork, right? I think that is more than enough to consider yourself a researcher. Anyway, did you want to order a coffee or tea? It's on me." Her warm chestnut eyes get wide for a moment.

"Oh, I couldn't impose, you already agreed to get me in contact with someone who may be able to provide unique sources for my thesis." She grabs a lock of her brown hair and begins to twist it.

"I insist, either this or let me actually pay you for your time." Not that she is going to get away with either… I already have an envelop with what a researcher would make for a couple of hours on a commission. But I'm only going to give it to her at the last minute so she can't have a chance to refuse it.

"If you're sure…" She sits down and waves down one of the café staff, who apparently knows her. They speak in Turkish for a few minutes before she orders, for their privacy I don't pay any attention to the conversation. We chat over our drinks for a while, mostly about her program in school and where she hopes to take herself with it. She also asks me about whether I'm in school, or plan to be.

"I have finished my bachelor's degree but… Well, things didn't pan out the way I had hoped… So, I'm waiting a little and hopefully I'll be back in school next year for my master's." That is putting it mildly of course…

"I understand, it took me almost my whole bachelor's degree to decide what to do, but in my last year, it kind of hit me that I want to try sorting through history. I feel like I've already found so much about only the period I'm focusing on… When I think about how _much_ history is out there… I don't know… I just get so full of this glowing feeling." She puts her hand against her chest and smiles, I remember that feeling. From every time I imagined designing skyscrapers that sit in the clouds, the way my possibilities made me feel; it's a feeling I miss. "May I ask what you want to study for your master's degree?"

"Originally, I was planning on doing architecture… But now I'm leaning towards just doing art." Seeing as it is one of the few things that I've been able to hold on to for all this time.

"So, you're an artist… Wow!"

"It's not as glamorous as you think, I promise." I drink my last swig of tea and wave for our bill. Once I've paid we both get up and exit the little café.

We chat about some aimless things until we get closer to where her research had led her.

"I have been finding so little on Yusuf Tazim. I have searched in pretty much every records space here in Istanbul, and I still can't find anything despite the fact that he seems to have spent a fair amount of time here…" A symptom of being an Assassin. Even in the general public many of the most notable Assassins have been lost to all but the Templars and the Assassins.

"I'm sure that my friend has something you will be able to use. May I ask why specifically Yusuf Tazim? I imagine there are plenty of more notable people out there… Like Ezio Auditore for example. I may not be a history buff, but I know he was active around here at the same time, right?" _Sorry, Yusuf…_ I can practically see the indignant expression on his face.

"Actually, I had started with someone else entirely… But as I got further into researching them, Yusuf was popping up… Over and over. A note on who was involved here, a mention there, sometimes there are others mentioned, like Ezio Auditore… Then, when I went to my professor for advice on switching to Ezio Auditore she suggested that perhaps doing my research on someone less notable would look better to any future prospects, rather than if I were to do a thesis on someone that three other people this year alone were researching, namely Ezio Auditore."

"So, doing harder work now will bring you better results down the road… Your professor sounds like a wise person."

"She is. I am from a small town east of here just on the Black Sea. Since my mother is far away, it feels like my professor is something like a second mother to me." She smiles. I've had a lot of people who've helped me like that, I know what an impact they can have. "Anyway, I had been looking into when Sultan Selim I's rule started and how everything had led up to that result, rather than Ahmed becoming the Sultan as most sources from the time seemed to think would be the result. All that had led me to some writings that said in the later years of Sultan Bayezid II's rule a crop of Byzantines had emerged hoping to return Constantinople to a Byzantine rule." _I can still feel the Assassin following us…_ "Naturally, the Ottomans did not want that, but up until a certain point, in the writings I had found, the Byzantines had been steadily gaining ground and influence. I even found a brief reference talking about a threat from the Byzantines against the Sultan's grandson, Suleiman." I am graced again with the memory of a troop of Assassins in Italian minstrel outfits looking dejected and embarrassed, especially Yusuf and Ezio, "Following that and some other writings, I found references to a third party playing for the future of the city." _The Assassins… I wonder how she would react if I told her that I fought in that period for the freedom of the city._ "It was in some of these writings I started seeing the name Yusuf Tazim coming up more and more. So, I brought it to my professor, and she gave me a couple of archives I might be able to find more information in." She pauses for a minute, so I add in.

"So, did you find his gravesite through one of those archives?"

"Yes, actually… I had found something that must have been a journal of someone working closely with him… It had so much information in it… I really couldn't believe it. Whoever wrote it must have known him for a long time. Some passages weren't intact but most of the passages were about the conflicts between this group… And the Byzantines, whom the passages also refer to as Templars." She pauses briefly before barreling forward with more, "It even spoke about the person Yusuf Tazim loved." My heart skips a beat, "The writer had enormous respect for this woman, apparently she and Yusuf might've even married if he had survived the conflicts with the Byzantines… Apparently, she left Istanbul after his death and from the passages it seems she was never seen again. Also, in the passage about his burial, was the location. But when I went there myself I found only a large building… So, I took that to some historical conservationists at the recommendation of my professor to locate where it could have been moved to. And they found the records for the property and where all the graves had been moved to." We walk along in silence for a few minutes until she continues the barrage of information.

"Although, with some of my searches…" She pauses as though contemplating whether to say anything, "Well, I had been looking up documents that might confirm whether the Byzantines really were some later years off-shoot from the Knights Templar, like the journal said… Because it just seemed so out there that Templars would be in Istanbul so long after the organization was disbanded by the Pope." Yeah, to anyone not privy to the secret war between order and chaos it would seem weird, "Anyways, some of those searches brought up some strange results talking about how the Templars have resurfaced several times throughout history. Some of the result had things saying there is even current Templar activity."

"That seems a little farfetched… Weren't the Templars disbanded in… 1315 or something?" History wasn't my strength then, so I shouldn't seem like a history buff now, even to a stranger… "I'd say that kind of stuff almost falls under conspiracy theory stuff… Plus, if the Templars _were_ still around, wouldn't more people know about it?"

"1312, actually. But, yes, I suppose so… I just found those posts and stuff a little unnerving I guess." I can see how nervous the idea of modern Templars makes her…

"I can imagine so… If I were you, I'd just steer clear of as much of that conspiracy theory stuff as you can, focus on getting your info about when the Byzantines tried to take back Istanbul… And obviously failed." I chuckle to try and help her calm down about it, "Stay out of anything modern and keep to history, that's where you'll shine."

"Yes, I suppose you're right…" She gestures for us to go down a smaller road, "We're almost there now."

We come around a corner to find a small graveyard. She takes me through it to one of the graves near a tree. The stone seeming newer than it should.

"All the graves from that old cemetery had been split up between a few new sites based on the known or guessed burial dates. The graves with records were split between this one and one on other side of Galata Tower. All the stones were made new for each grave at the time, and they were made as closely to the original as they could. I wish I could find an answer for why there are stars on carved on Yusuf Tazim's. It's really beautiful." I look at the stone, and in the lovely flowing Arabic letters spells his name. Yusuf Tazim. Decorating the stone are carved stars.

"Thank you, Sefa. This means more than you know." I reach into my bag and pull out the envelop with her pay inside. I pass it to her, and she looks at it confused.

"What's this?" She opens the envelop and gasps, "This is too much, I can't accept this." She holds the envelop out to me.

"Nope, I asked some other researchers what they make for a few hours of commissioned work. And so, that is what's inside. Also inside is an email. That is the person who should be able to help you find some unique references for your research." I push her hands closed around the envelop, "Thank you very much, Sefa." She gives a defeated look before putting the money deep in her bag and zipping it up.

"Will you be okay finding your way back?" She asks.

"I will. Be safe and take care of yourself."

"You take care too." She leaves the cemetery, and the Assassin moves further away.

I turn back to Yusuf's grave and stare at it for a while.

"Yusuf… I still miss you in every moment." I whisper to the grave as I pull my sketchbook out of my bag and remove the drawing of him and the drawing of Istanbul, "After we buried you, Ezio had to go save Sofia… And I lost it. I decimated three Byzantine hideouts. I went back to our headquarters after though… They gave me your letter and… That was the hardest thing I ever had to read. Although, I don't think I ever want this to become easy. For me… This feeling helps me remember that you… You helped me to feel human when I had begun to lose touch with what that meant." I pull the ring on the chain out from under my shirt and look at it again. The gentle embellishments leading to the turquoise stone in the middle with the two small emeralds on either side. The perfect mirror for the daintier version on my right hand.

I place the two drawings next to the stone, and pull the boxed flower out of my bag, a peony, like the ones he used to give me. I open the box and place it next to the drawings.

"I'm sorry I couldn't save you… You never got to see what became of your efforts for the city you loved so dearly. But I want you to know that I've reunited with my family. I haven't told any of them the truth yet… But I will… Eventually. Just like I promised." I put my hand on the stone and the sensation of being held in his arms comes over me. The hole in my heart aching but my eyes stay dry.

* * *

"' _My Light?' Why did you start calling me that?" I had been fiddling with the peach peony he had given me looking out over the city, but I turn to face him fully; I want him to see my face when I say this to him. His eyes light up and his expression softens the way they always do when our eyes meet._

" _Because Yusuf, I was existing in the dark. You brought me into the daylight, I live life now instead of just letting time pass by. It was something I had forgotten how to do." I place my hand against his cheek, "You are the light that brightens my day, the light that comforts at night, the light that guides the way, and the light that warms my soul." I rest my forehead against his, "Even… Even once you've left this world the light you've given me will keep me living through time, instead of just floating through it." He pulls me into a sturdy hug._

" _And you are the stars that bring wonder to my life and guide me home." My arms reach around him and hold him tightly against me._

" _I don't want to ever let you go… I love you, Yusuf."_

" _And I love you, Astraea, Najmay." My star._

* * *

That had been just before we decided to exchange rings. It had been at this point that I had shared everything with him. Right down to my impossible birth year. He had accepted it so gracefully. I had also asked him if now that he understood why I had been so insistent on leaving if he would still want to have me stay; even knowing why I called a future with me 'empty'. When I ask him how he could simply accept it, his answer had blown away what meager remains of the fortress around my heart.

" _It would make no difference to me where or when you were from. I love you completely, from top to bottom and everything in between. And while I now understand why you felt the way you did, it doesn't change how I feel now, and wouldn't have changed how I felt then. I would still have fought to keep you here."_

I had become ultimately vulnerable, but I was blissful about it. He had been the first person I told everything to since I ran into Kassandra in Rome. I had gotten close to one other person one time, but… He was taken before I had considered telling him, during some infighting in the Brotherhood.

I had been completely paranoid afterwards that he would be killed while doing something for the Assassins. It had been then that I had more officially joined his Brotherhood and I was able to help him by advising him on matters that he had to make decisions on, and by simply being there.

Then seven years later Ezio arrived on scene. _That_ was certainly an interesting time…

* * *

_Headquarters is buzzing with excitement… I do remember hearing that a notable Assassin from another country would be arriving soon… Surely whoever it was that kicked the hornet's nest of Templars buzzing around Masyaf. But no one I've spoken with has known who and Yusuf wouldn't tell me yesterday._

" _Have you seen Yusuf?"_

" _Hello Astraea, he went to greet that Assassin from… I don't remember where…" The relatively fresh Assassin shrugs before moving on._ Ugh… No help at all.

_Then I hear Yusuf's voice near the entrance of the hideout, with a heavy voice, they're both speaking in Italian. I take a few steps to greet them at the top of the stairs and Yusuf waves at me. Then like lightning striking I see who he's with._

_Ezio._

_Ezio_ fucking _Auditore._

_Shit._

_I haven't seen Ezio in more than twenty years. And we were… Acquainted well enough that he will recognize me. And he will certainly notice that I have not changed at all…_

_I dash into the armory and snatch my full facemask and place it over my face before going towards the table where Yusuf and Ezio just arrived._

" _Mentor, say hello to your extended family." Yusuf says to Ezio, I walk over to them using my left hand to pull my hood into place, Yusuf makes a confused expression for a moment as I join him at the end of the table._

" _Salute a voi, Assassini." I look at Ezio through the elegant metal swirls of the mask, he is showing his age… How old is he now, anyway? "It is an honour to have such fast friends so far from home." It figures that it would be Ezio who stirred up the Templars holding Masyaf. I look to Yusuf, who gets that adorable mischievous light in his eyes._

" _You see brothers?" He reaches and pats one of the seated men on the shoulder, "Our Mentor is not afraid to weep openly in front of his pupils."_ Oh Yusuf…

" _Do not worry. I will not make a habit out of it." Ezio quips as he sits down at the table. At least Ezio still has his sense of humour… Then Yusuf gets his business face on._

" _Ezio and I were ambushed on the way here." I put a hand on his arm, and he pats it in comfort._ Those damned Byzantines are getting gutsy _, "I'd like some of you to do a sweep of the area." When they don't immediately stand Yusuf adds, "Hemen!" With a forceful upward gesture of his arm._

_The four men at the table stand up and immediately get to it and Yusuf walks around the table to where Ezio is now standing up._

" _And you, Ezio…" Yusuf gestures to all of Ezio, "Your weapons and armour are in a pitiful state…" Ezio begins to look himself up and down, "Maybe find some money and repair what you can. There's a blacksmith nearby. He's a friend." Ezio's hidden blade screeches as it ejects and retracts._

" _Buona idea." Ezio walks towards the exit of the hideout and Yusuf comes towards me._

" _What's with the mask today, Najmay?" Yusuf comes over and removes the mask before pecking my cheek._

" _Ezio Auditore? Are you serious?" I release all my newly created anxiety from this development in two statements, with a huff and throwing my arms up while turning around, "Sorry… It's just…" I huff irritably._

" _You can tell me, Raea." Yusuf turns me back to face him and sits me down._

" _I have met Ezio before… In Venice. We… Uh…" I look him in the eyes._

" _I see. Do I have to duel our Mentor now?" A snort of laughter escapes me and he just grins._

" _No. It's just that_ that _was twenty-two years ago. He was younger then than you are now. He is_ going _to recognize me. And he is_ definitely _going to notice that I look_ exactly _the same."_

" _Well, going around in a mask all the time and never letting me see your lovely face is simply not an option." Yusuf shrugs and strolls around beside me to sit at the table, and before I have a moment to rebuttal he continues, "I guess you will just have to tell him about you." I whip around on the chair to face him as he flashes that disarming smile at me, silencing the budding protest._

" _What?" I struggle a minute searching for any words, "But…"_

" _But, what?" He stands up, takes my hand, "He has fought for the Brotherhood nearly his whole life, many of his actions have become legend to those in the Brotherhood. Surely that speaks for not only his credibility but his character." He moves to kneel in front of me, he places his hand on my cheek, "I can't be the only person you ever tell until you reunite with your family. That is too much of a burden for one person. Please remember that you_ are _human. And you_ do _have limitations." He pulls my face to him and kisses me deeply, sweeping away all my worries. When he pulls back, he looks at me expectantly._

" _I'll think about it…" I cave in entirely, how does he hold such sway over my actions? And so effortlessly._

" _Thank you, Najmay." He give one of his stunning smiles as if he didn't know the effect they have on me._ Brat.

* * *

The next two weeks had been a hairbrained mess for me.

After the initial rush of fighting two groups of Byzantines and Ezio had begun to recruit for us, any time I spotted Ezio coming in I would just squirrel myself away somewhere until he was gone.

By the third week Yusuf had gotten impatient and took advantage of seeing me talking with Ezio in the hideout. He used his undeniable sway over my heart and mind to convince me to tell him right then and there.

And honestly? Ezio took it pretty smoothly, even when I shared my birthdate. But I only understood why after he confided that he had opened the Vault beneath the Vatican.

* * *

_Yusuf's hand on my back as I cough away the tea I just breathed out of shock._

" _You? You are the one that Minerva did all that preparation for? What did she say?"_

" _She did not speak to me much. Rather she spoke to a phantom who seemed to be behind me, she called him Desmond. She spoke of a catastrophe that had once occurred and would again in the future. I admit that most of it did not make very much sense to me." Ezio shrugs a little._

" _No… I suppose it wouldn't_ they _have that effect. Especially Minerva." I can't repress the eyeroll at remembering her riddling antics. "Although, I knew her better as Athena… But a lot of what she would say regarding the future often sounded like riddles. She was the best at sussing out which direction time would take though. I do know the catastrophe she mentioned… But whatever she did must have panned out well enough, because I don't remember the world getting destroyed at all." I look at Ezio, and while he is certainly handling it well, I can still see the gears spinning at max speed to process all the information._

" _Right, well…" Yusuf places his hands on my back, "Perhaps we should get back to the problems of today for now and leave the future to this Desmond that your Athena seems to have so much confidence in."_

* * *

Ezio had asked me a few questions during his time in Istanbul, but even after all of that he only ever proved himself to be a loyal friend. I visited him and Sofia a few times through out his later years and then I kept an eye on their children for a long while from a distance.

Then my phone's ringing pulls me back to reality.

It's my mom. And it's past the time we were supposed to meet.

Shit.

"Hey, mom! Sorry, I got caught up in my drawing again!"

"That's okay. Are you almost to the hotel or do you want to meet somewhere?"

"I'm about a fifteen-minute walk from Galata Tower, do you want to meet me there?"

"Alright, hun. I'll see you soon."

"Love you, mom!" My mom makes a 'mua' kiss sound into the phone before hanging up.

I can't believe how much time passed. I brush some dust off the top of the gravestone.

"Goodbye, my Light." I walk out of the cemetery and back through the streets to the tower.


	11. Loss

School is just starting now. _I can't believe it's already September..._ I had decided to take a year of general studies to brush up my academia skills before going abroad for school again. My advisors on both sides of the Atlantic agreed that it would be in my best interest to see how things go for this school year.

So as I step through the doors into the library, I find myself glad that I decided to only do a couple of courses in the General Studies category to settle back into school. Especially since it _has_ been some thousands of years since I attended school in any traditional sense… Learnt things? Oh absolutely. I learnt plenty. Attend school? No… No, I did not. While, it is different from my original plan to study abroad again, it has made it possible to take an entry level history class. The prof told us today that she expects us to be thinking of a topic to write on for the term, with mini-assignments bearing the intention of guiding us through history essay creation little-by-little. Which is great for me because while I may have written art history papers before… A: that is a completely different kind of history. And B: it's been a while since I wrote anything other than my personal journal.

Introductory history also happens because it was never really an interest of mine… And now? While I am still pretty uninterested, at least I stand a slight chance of not failing… Because I can't really retake all those art courses I did for my bachelor's degree… Mostly because I will have only graduated a little over a year ago, but I have had a little more time than that to improve. And _that_ will show to any one of the professors that I had. The other class I'm taking? Introductory level archaeology. That's sure to please my mom.

The first mini assignment in my history class is supposed to help me familiarize myself with the library, so that I can find academic and serious sources, not wishy-washy articles filled with more opinion than fact, for my writing. Ironically, my first archaeology assignment is basically the same thing. I have to find four different books and six different articles through the library's search system. I walk over to the nearest computer, hoping that looking at it will jog my memory, but admittedly… I never really made much use of the university's library for most of my two years at this school, opting to use the public library or online scholarly articles.

I must have looked like I needed help because in my periphery I can see someone approaching.

"Did you need a hand using the library's search engine?" I turn to face the source of the question to find…

"Emmett?" His face looks shocked for a moment, but he recovers quickly.

"Astraea! The world just keeps getting smaller, doesn't it?"

"Do you work here? When did that happen?" He most certainly did _not_ work here during my bachelor's. My remaining girlish crush on him at the time would have made me be the top library user for my whole five years.

And no. The girlish crush did _not_ last all this time. Yusuf saw to that.

"I got hired a few weeks before I moved in, in March. I got to work the whole summer to get familiar with the system. I even managed a few updates to the old system to make it easier for everyone from faculty and students to library staff, like yours truly."

"Wow… So, even if I had used the library a bunch during my bachelor's I would probably be lost anyway." He chuckles.

"Maybe not totally lost, but I can get you started. Since, I've already had a bunch of students on that history assignment…" He nods at the paper in my hand, "I can't give you the full guided tour. That would be an unfair advantage over your classmates."

"Ah, but what is the point of an advantage if you don't take advantage of it?" I look up at his eyes and shrug a little.

"True… How about this? I will get you started and then I will follow you to each location. Without giving any hints. I will even do tour-guidey things along the way."

"Alright but jokes on you. I have…" I slide the papers apart, "Two library assignments."

"How _could_ you? I feel so taken advantage of." He fake swoons with a hand to his forehead. Then he goes straight into guiding me through the process of looking up an item in the digital catalogue once. After the first one he lets me do the rest of them myself, "So history and archaeology, huh? I always thought that those topics were kind of like your kryptonite… As I recall your sister, Nyx, always loved it and same with your mom, but I'm pretty sure I remember you falling asleep at the mere mention of history. Even art history you never much liked, despite your adoration of art."

"Interests change…" Flimsy… "But I want to start with a couple of easier courses… To, you know, get back in the school mindset before diving into my master's degree."

"Didn't you only graduate like a year ago? I thought I saw that on social media…"

"Yeah, but I had to take the whole year off to let myself recover from the ferry-incident."

"Right… I heard about that from my dad. I heard you got your head pretty good on the side of a _metal_ ferry, right? I wouldn't be surprised if it knocked some knowledge out into the sea…" I punch his arm playfully and he cradles it like I had a bronze knuckle on. "Ah… Abuse."

I finish writing out the location of the last article and begin the hunt, he explains how each number shows the location in the library, pointing to the first section on the list. Then we go on the grand tour of the library led on by my list of must-finds.

"Well… I'd say the two profs planned this… We went through almost the whole library between the two lists." I comment as we find the last article and I write down the requested information.

"I do believe those two are friends… As library staff I _do_ receive some privileged information." He straightens out an invisible blazer.

"You, my friend,are ridiculous." I tease and chuckle a little bit, and he just grins.

"Anyway, when are you planning to go home? I'm off in about thirty minutes if you don't mind waiting, we could head back together if you want." I suppose it wouldn't hurt having gym fanatic Emmett along with me… At the very least it would involve less impromptu gangster-wannabe smackdowns.

"Sure, I don't mind waiting. I'll just wait at the café down the main hall."

"Alright, see you in a little."

* * *

I stroll up to the building, Halloween decorations hanging from some of the balconies with some even scattered on the lawn. The owner of the building encourages families to share celebrations they wish to be shared with willing parties in the building. They also provide specific tags for the doors at the building bulletin board, that way the other families can know if your suite is participating in the holiday or event. For Halloween, the tags are a choice of a black cat, a jack-o-lantern, or a ghost. Other events that have happened are Christmas, Eid, Easter, Setsubun, and few others. The buildings families are primarily Christian and Muslim, with a few Japanese families that bring a mix of Shinto and Buddhism, and a smattering of families that don't practice any religion in particular. I find that the building's manager's willingness to add any festival to the roster is admirable, all she asks is that the group asking to include whichever celebration is willing to organize it themselves with the building providing the space for larger get together type celebrations.

With my candy in one hand, I grab a black cat tag to place on my door and I tap the button to summon the elevator to take me to the top. I walk in as the doors open and a couple of overly excited children fly in after me with their mother shortly behind them, I recognize them as the kids that live on the other end of my floor. They each have a small bag.

"Are those your Halloween costumes?" I ask the overly excited little girls.

"Yes!" They both shout before a moment of glaring at the dismay of being copied by their sibling.

"I'm being a—" The older sister starts.

"Woah, now! What fun is it if you tell me now? You should make me guess when you come trick-or-treating." The jaws of both kids pop open at the same time and their eyes light up like they just discovered the best game ever. The elevator dings as the doors open to our floor and the two kids grin at me before shooting off to the end of the hall. Their mom, Brielle, and I step out and look after them.

"Thank you, they have been telling every single person they see what they are being for Halloween. I believe you have now given me a reprieve from that, at least for a few days." She smiles warmly.

"No problem, I like to help where I can." I joke, as she begins to trek down the hall in the dust trail behind her kids and I turn the other down to my own end of the hall.

I take my time, but as I reach for my keys a strange sensation overcomes me like a tsunami and I have to lean against the wall to my left for support.

_Chaire, Astraea… Thank you, my wonderful friend._

Kassandra's voice sings through my mind bringing a gentle warmth with it followed by a distinct emptiness.

I sink to my knees, covering my mouth to stifle the cry trying to force its way out. The beat of my heart crashes through my ears as it tears to pieces.

Kassandra is gone… I knew this day would come… I _knew_ this would happen. But… That doesn't change the pain.

A muffled sound tries to break through to me, but it's the sensation of pressure on my shoulder that brings me to open my overflowing eyes. There I see Emmett. He is crouching down in front of me and places a hand on the side of my face, wiping away some tears that are only replaced with fresh ones.

"Come on…" He comes over beside me and brings his arm under mine and helps me walk to his suite. Where he opens the door and brings me to his couch before going into the kitchen.

"Are you okay?" He sets two steaming mugs on the coffee table and sits down next to me. The calming aroma of the tea wafts up to my face. He holds a facecloth out for me, and I wipe the tears off my face, but as soon as I try to bring the words 'I just found out my best friend died,' the words catch in my throat and tears threaten to start again. Emmett pulls me into a warm hug.

"It's okay to cry…" Then as if my body had been waiting for permission it all floods out, like a dam is breaking. Every fear and anxiety I had been ignoring for the months since I met up with Kassandra in Greece, all the anticipation from knowing that I had already had my final goodbye with her already… The way she helped me hold onto myself for all these years… The way she filled the empty space Dike had left when she finally shared the fate of the rest of her kind.

I let myself cry out all the pain of losing Kassandra.

I pull back from Emmett. It's already gotten dark out…

"I'm sorry, Emmett… That can't have been easy…"

"Easier than what you're dealing with it seems… Can you talk about it?" He places a hand on my shoulder and looks into my eyes. I place my hand on his and smile as much as I can.

"No… I don't think I can… Not yet, anyway."

"Well, whenever you're ready to talk about it, I'll be here; ready to listen." I stand up and give him a quick hug before walking over to the door and collecting my bags with the Halloween candy. Emmett walks over with the mug of tea and passes it to me.

"It may need to be nuked for a little to get warm again but enjoy it. You can bring the mug back another day."

I go into my own suite and set my things down. I put the mug of cool tea on the counter and walk over to the large shelves built into the wall around my fireplace. I reach up to one of the higher shelves and pull down a weathered candle. It had been a gift from Kassandra on my birthday. Not just any of my birthdays though. It had been the date I was born, and she wanted to celebrate it.

I place the candle on the table and light it.

"Thank you for all the wonderful memories… Thank you for holding me together time and again… And thank you for never giving up on me." I sit in one of the chairs and just stare at the little flickering flame for a while.

Or at least I thought it would just be a while, until the little flame poofs out in the puddle of wax on my table and grey light begins to colour the horizon.

I walk into the kitchen and spot Emmett's mug of tea on the counter, I put it in the microwave and heat it back up. I don't imagine it will taste quite the same, but I don't want it to go to waste…

Emmett was always a good friend to me… He would always comfort me after my siblings had bullied me, or if I had just had a bad day. I suppose that is probably why I developed a crush on him when my mind began to wonder about those things as an adolescent. He has also been a good friend to me lately. I help him whenever I can, but it never feels like enough… And after this… Maybe I should just tell him the whole story…

The tea's flavour is calming and sweet with a little twist of citrus… It reminds me of him. And as the thoughts of why I shouldn't tell him cloud my mind, then some words from Yusuf's final letter to me bubble to the surface.

_Najmay, I know what you will say to this, but please remember that you are human. You bear an unbelievable burden upon you, and you should not have to bear it alone ever again. So please, for me, do not keep this burden to yourself. Tell someone. A friend. Your family. Just, for the sake of my love, do not carry your burden alone. You will always have someone you can trust who loves you. Please, trust them to help you._

_I know, Yusuf… I will try…_

But I will think about it for a while… I have to think about how this would affect Emmett and his life. I will think about this until spring… It may have once seemed like a long time to wait half a year, but I've now had to weigh decisions in terms of decades, centuries, or more. And I must be sure that not only can he handle it mentally, but that the knowledge won't upend his life.

* * *

Stepping into the café I remove the lighter jacket I had chosen to suit the lovely, warm chinook air coming in from the mountains. It may be February, but it feels like April.

"Raea! It's been a while since you've visited." The owner of the café and my former boss, Sherri, greets me as I come in, I had quit working at the café a little after Kassandra had passed in late October. "That chinook is certainly living up to its name, eh?" I chuckle at her humour. Chinook, of course, being the Blackfoot term for the warm winds that come over the mountains during the winter and melt snow as they pass through. The term meaning snow-eater.

"Right you are, it certainly is eating all the snow! It's practically an early spring!" I goad her knowing she hates the idea of jinxing away the spring.

"Hey now! The groundhog actually predicted an early spring! Don't go jinxing it or we'll end up with snow right through April again!" Despite only being forty-five Sherri has managed to build a thriving little café, almost completely alone. She did have a little help from her son but that's all the help she had at first.

"Or who knows? Maybe there'll be another celebrity thinking that it is just a symptom of global warming."

"We do not speak of _that_ here." She jokingly does a menacing voice as I seat myself at my favourite table by the window. "I'll bring over your usual in a few." I bring out my books and what not to study for the tests that are bound to pop up after the reading break is over. As promised Sherri drops off my favourite tea and a little treat as well.

As I sip at my tea a few of my former co-workers come and chat a little before continuing on with their work as the rush begins. I stay put, switching between my second level history and archaeology classes' assignments… And occasionally popping over to my sketch book when my mind begins to wander. History is still the subject to put me to sleep in school it seems.

I had begun to space out watching a couple across the street when a man sits down in the chair across the table from me. He is probably close to my dad's age, with a few sections of fully white hair around his ears and white sprinkled through his warm brown hair. He is better dressed than most people who would enter this café and has places an envelop on the table in front of me. On the hand placing the envelop is an unmistakable ring bearing a telltale cross. But I can't react to that… There are plenty of his kind in the world. I tap the app on my phone to record the conversation and semi hide the sensor under my textbook, so the screen goes dark.

"Um, this table is being used right now… There are plenty available on the _other_ side of the café." I gesture to the five empty tables littering the other side of the café.

"I'm sorry, but I saw you when I entered the café and couldn't believe my eyes." A lie, right out of the gate, "It's just that you are spitting image of my sister, and I thought perhaps you might be her daughter?" But that is not a lie…

"Well, I find that unlikely because my mom is an only child. Now if you don't mind…" Even if she weren't why would she hide something like that? She couldn't understand the significance of the ring on his hand. Meaning he must be lying or at the very least exaggerating.

"Oh, my family and I had quite the falling out… You _could_ say they disowned me. So, it would be likely that Aurora wouldn't mention me. My name is Atreus Lykaios, I currently use the name Zachariah Moore, though and would prefer if you use that to address me." Also, not a lie, and he just dropped my mom's name and her maiden matches the one he just used, but the way he asked to be called something else was so arrogant in the most Templar way, "You could say that I had… A rather weighty difference of opinion with my family. And my sister, Aurora, yet clings to their… Archaic _creed_." Why did he emphasize creed? "Ah, but I don't imagine you've been let in on it just yet, otherwise you'd have already turned tail. Curious indeed that your own mother would hide something of such import from you. You see there is something they haven't told you. I would like to give you the opportunity to help the side that will succeed in bringing peace." Through forced oppression of freewill…

"If you think I'm going to believe you just because you drop a name that could be found in any number of places on the internet…"

"Oh no, I don't think that… In fact, seeing as we are related I would expect nothing less than some skepticism. But I do have something that may get you to think otherwise. My contact information is in this letter. I'll let you mull this opportunity over and at the very least give yourself a chance to choose for yourself rather than letting archaic tradition be your only guide." He stands up and straightens his topcoat, "I'll be in contact."

He doesn't say it out loud, but the subtext there is crystal clear. 'If you don't contact me, I'll contact you.' He strolls out of the café and into a running car with blacked out windows that, by the sound, has more power under the hood than the look of the vehicle would let on.

Ugh. I don't want to be in contact with a Templar. For anything. I'm sure if it's important my mom would have told me… Right?

I look at the envelop he left as Sherri and Lucy walk over.

"Who in the hell was that? He had hella creepy vibes." Lucy comments making a disgusted face before she walks away again.

"He really was a creep…" Sherri agrees.

"No kidding… He claims to be a relative… But he's no relative I've ever met… Or heard of." I look back outside and see a similar looking car parked across the street, blacked out windows and a plume of exhaust visible in the fading light. "Do you think you could bring me another tea, I still have so much studying to do." I write down in my notebook and lean back to let her read it,

_That black car is identical to the one he left in… I'm going to leave out the back tonight, okay?_

"Of course, honey. I'll bring it right over, you did quit to get better grades after all, right?"

"You know it." I pretend to continue studying for a few minutes before pushing it all aside and bringing out the sketchbook again. Then Sherri brings over the fresh steaming tea.

"Now, didn't you just say you were going to keep studying! You aren't an art major anymore." She places the tea and a couple of napkins at the edge of the table, "Just holler if you need anything, sweet pea."

"Thanks, Sherri." I place my sketchbook closed over the envelop, and I see Sherri shoot a look over, "Okay, okay…" I grab the sketchbook and the envelop and put them in my purse instead of my backpack. After, I pull my textbook closer to hide the writing I can see on the napkins. Sherri is a really sharp one, I guess it must come from her years when she was a bartender downtown.

_Just leave your school things on the table, I'll clean them up a while after you've left. Leave your coat and take mine. And for the love of all things holy_ **please** _let Brett take you_ **all the way** _home. When you decide to leave, go to the washroom._

My heart swells a little, Sherri is one of the most genuine people I've ever had the pleasure of knowing.

Once I finish the tea, I set the cup at the side of the table and one of the other girls, Lucy, grabs it.

"Good luck studying, I hear the prof you have this term is a hard-ass." She says as she walks away with the cup.

"Thanks." I say after her. I 'study' for another fifteen minutes before grabbing my purse and going to the washroom, "Hey, Luce… I'm just heading to the washroom to deal with… You know what…" I make a strained expression and touch my lower abdomen, "Could you keep an eye on my things for a few?"

"Absolutely, Raea, I'm on it." She jokingly salutes me as I pass her to the bathroom, whose hallway ends with an entrance to the kitchens. I walk through the kitchen's door and am immediately locked in a hug from Sherri.

"Oh, sweetie… I'm sorry this had to happen… But promise me you'll stay safe. Don't come back here for a while just in case… I've had to deal with a stalker before, it is not a pretty business. I'll have Brett bring your stuff to the school tomorrow. Anywhere specific in mind?" Brett comes over holding Sherri's coat out to me.

"If you could take it all to Emmett at the library in the university for me, that would be best. He's an old friend." I put the coat on and bring the hood up around my face.

"Sure thing." Brett replies. I turn back to Sherri.

"Thank you so much, Sherri… I hope this doesn't cause problems for you later on…" She hugs me again.

"Even if it does, I wouldn't change a thing about helping you even if I was given the chance. Now get going. And keep your face hidden… It's dark out now so it should be easy." Sherri practically shoves us out the back door.

"Bye." She waves as we walk into the dark back alley, in the opposite direction of the street.

The fifteen-minute walk to the train with Brett goes smoothly, even though we took dark alleyways and back routes the whole to avoid the main street of the area. I make sure to keep my eyes low so that he won't see them in the low light. I worry a little, not so much for my own wellbeing, but rather how such a development could affect my family if this goes badly… Abstergo has certainly not been the most forgiving incarnation of the Templars… Not that the Templars have _ever_ been particularly forgiving.

The train ride is quiet and eerie, and once we get off, we return to taking shadowed alleyways and side roads for the ten minute walk to my condo from the train. Keeping my senses on high alert as I watch the streets ahead for unwelcome visitors.

As we near the back of the building I fish my key fob to open the back door. Then Brett freezes as a familiar shadow nears us.

"Astraea?" Emmett brings his phone's light up to his face so I can see him, little did he know I already could, "What are you doing out here? You usually go in the front door, right? And who is this?"

"Who's this?" Brett whispers at the same time Emmett asks.

"Emmett, this is Brett, he is the son of the café owner I used to work for. Brett, this is my neighbour and long-time friend Emmett. He's the one I asked you to bring the books to in the library." We all step towards the back light of the building, me stepping as close to the light as I can.

"Oh." Both parties say equally unenthused.

"On the 'what happened' note…" I try to think of subtle ways to say it…

"Some weird guy approach Raea in the café earlier. My mom set it up so that she could get out the back and leave her school things because it looked like he had a friend still waiting outside even after he drove off."

"A weird guy?" Emmett raises his eyebrows at me.

"Yeah, he just kind of came in claiming to be some estranged uncle that my mom's parents disowned… I don't think I believe him though… It didn't make any sense… Anyway, thanks for the escort home, Brett. I think I'll be okay from here. I'll text Sherri to let her know I'm home safe. You be safe." If I didn't have the vision I do, I wouldn't have seen the expression Emmett made in response to me talking about the strange man. One of surprise and… Almost utter fear. An expression he quickly cleared from his face, but not quickly enough.

"Alright, Raea. You be safe too. Goodnight."

"Goodnight." The two guys do the acknowledgement nod at each other before Brett walks away, and Emmett and I head to the building's backdoor. We then start the trek up the stairs to our floor.

"What didn't make sense about it?" Emmett enquires.

"The short answer would belong to 'what did make sense.' But basically, nothing made sense. From where and when he approached me, to every word that spewed from his lips after. An estranged uncle? What reason would my mom have to keep that from me? Or rather our family, because if the others knew, surely they would have told me."

"That is really weird… But can you do me a favour?" I look at him, "Since it's Reading Week now, don't go out if you don't have to… I know you quit your jobs, so you can stay home… You said Brett would be bringing your school stuff to the library?" I nod, "I'll bring it back here, so you don't have to leave. If this guy approached you there, maybe it's because he doesn't know where you live yet. And if that's the case you should want to keep it that way… Stalkers can be a really nasty thing to get rid of."

"And if I need something else?" I say as I open the door at the opposite end of the hall from our suites.

"I will become your personal errand-boy, just please help me help you." He turns to look at me, a hand going to the back of his neck, it almost seems like he's keeping something from me, but it doesn't seem like he's lying either.

"Fine… But only for Reading Week, I'm not going to miss any school." We get to our doors.

"I thought about trying to convince you to but figured you'd say something along those lines. And you should probably call your mom, see if you can get some answers about all of this."

"Yeah, I was planning to… I'm hoping for some answers. Anyway, goodnight, and thank you in advanced for tomorrow." I say to him as we each step towards our doors.

"No problem. That's what friends are for." He waves before stepping through his door and closing it.

I step into my suite and lock the door and slide the chain lock into place before taking my purse over to the dining table. I glance at the security door bar, previously I would have shoved that against the door for the extra insurance against unwanted visitors, but I don't feel that worried. This Moore guy seemed to want me to have some time to think all this over…

I slide the envelop out of my purse and open it.

First is a small note:

_We have tried for so many years to find one of Aurora's children, but my sister ever the sharp one always managed to taint their minds before we could get to them. You call your mother. Ask her about me. In two months, I will find you again. Unless of course you contact me first._

Inside the envelop with the small note is an old looking photo, my mom is immediately recognizable, her unruly hair completely wild in that seventies' hairstyle. Next to my mom are the two people I recognize as her parents who passed before I was born. Also, in the picture is a boy, bordering on young man, who looks a little older than my mom but is unmistakably the younger version of the man who had approached me.

I examine the picture and, so far as I can tell, it seems like a genuine photo taken in the seventies or so. I may not have the precision of a computer for identifying fakes, but I have had a little experience. But that would mean he is telling the truth. And in that case why would my mom have hidden it?

The only thing left in the envelop is an Abstergo business card with the man's name and contact information. Zachariah Moore, with a phone number and an email address, that ends with the standard Abstergo domain address.

I grab my cellphone and call my mom. She's probably on the other side of the world but I need answers about this.

"Astraea? Why are you calling me at this time?" She sounds more concerned than annoyed and definitely groggy, which is one thing I've always loved about my mom; she never get upset over ill-timed phone calls.

"Well… Mom…"

"What is it?" Sounding more awake than the last sentence, and definitely worried over my hesitation.

"Today, I was at the café studying… And this business looking man just sits down across from me and suddenly claims to be my estranged uncle. As in your brother…" I hear a little gasp on the other side, "And he gave me an envelop with a picture of you with him and your parents… It doesn't look like a fake mom…"

"He approached you in public? Are you okay? Did he see where you live?" Suddenly she sounds nearly frantic.

"Yeah, at the café where I used to work… I'm fine. And no… Sherri, my old boss, and I noticed a car identical to the one he drove away in idling across the street, so she staged it for me to look like I had just gone to the washroom with my textbooks and stuff still there while I went out the back… She had her son take me home."

"Thank god…" I hear a few breaths on the other side of the line.

"Mom? Who was he?"

"I'm so sorry honey… Astraea, he _was_ your uncle, Atreus Lykaios… I never told you about him because he is troubled… Or he was, anyway, it got so bad that our parents disowned him and then had to get a restraining order against him…" That _does_ match what he said in the café… "That happened when I was still in high school. I didn't see him again until after I was married. I had thought to give him a second chance, but he… His behaviour put Nyx's life in danger when she was just a baby… So, we had a restraining order put against him and we moved far, far away from there. In the restraining order, it states he is not to approach us or any of our children… I'm so glad your old boss took such good care of you…"

"Why did you never tell me about all this before? I can understand not telling me as a kid but as an adult, isn't that something you should've told me about? Then I would have known to leave or call someone." A long pause over the phone before a quick breath.

"I know, sweetie… It had just been so long since we have even heard a whisper about him, that we didn't think it would ever be a problem again. I'm sorry… Let me explain all of this next time we see each other, okay?" She takes another breath as if she wants to continue, "Oh, looks like it's actually time for me to be getting ready to head back out to our site. I'm glad you called me about this. If he contacts you again, let me know. I love you."

"Love you too, mom." Then she hangs up from the other side. I wish I could tell if someone was lying over the phone… But why would I think that about my mom? She doesn't have any reason to lie about all of that… That weirdo just got under my skin is all. She said she would explain it all next time. And that means when her dig goes on a break, unfortunately that does not have any kind of timeline… It usually depends on whether or not anything big turns up.

There are a lot of people with questionable morality and sanity who belong to the Templar Order. I'll bet my mom just doesn't even know that he's a Templar.

Let alone what that even means in today's context.


	12. Nothing is True

**Merry Christmas everyone! And for anyone celebrating other events or festivals, Happy Holidays! I hope everyone enjoys whatever they may be celebrating or enjoying!**

**Stay safe and healthy!**

**Since I celebrate Christmas, here is a double update!**

* * *

Finally, the school year is coming to a close! Luckily since I took nothing but a smattering of second year courses this term my load wasn't too heavy for my finish. Unlike for some students who learn to dread the middle to end of April that just began at the beginning of the week.

"Do you really have nothing better to do than bother him all day long?" Bryony asks as she stops at the end of the rack of books that Emmett is currently working on. She definitely has a crush on him, the jealousy is practically rolling off of her in waves. Not that I can blame her. Emmett is certainly attractive. He also hits the kind and funny ticks that most girls swoon over. Not to mention that there _was_ a time when I once felt that way about him… But not so much anymore. I look over at him putting books into the shelves, purposefully not looking away from it for a minute.

"Bry, I'm still getting all my work done in a more than timely manner. Plus, Mathias likes having her around too." Emmett replies calmly without looking away from his task. Usually this isn't what he would do but with so many students cramming for exams and frantically finishing up term papers, they can barely keep up with all the books that need to be re-shelved. Such is life at a university as April passes by. Luckily for me I got my two final exams done back-to-back and now that I have handed in my term papers, I have nothing to worry about. School year? Done!

"True story. Can confirm." Comes from a stack a few rows away. Bryony glares in the direction of the voice before shooting the daggers at me.

"Tsk." She stalks away, clomping her heeled shoes on the hollow sounding floor all the way to the front desk.

"You know she is crushing hard on you, right?" I lean on the stack next to where he is sliding over some books to make room for more.

"Oh, yeah?"

"Yeah, she was talking about it before class a couple of weeks back… Had all the other girls practically turning green when she said she scored the part time job in the library with you so near." He gives a confused look, "Don't tell me you _don't_ know that at least half the female population of the university only comes here to catch a glimpse of you. Because if you say that, I'm not believing you."

"Well, I don't think it's _that_ many girls…" He goes to the cart and rolls it to the end of the aisle, then Mathias comes by with his own cart, now empty, to get a new full cart from the front desk.

"Nope. It's definitely _at least_ that many girls. They practically swoon every time you turn their way." Mathias says before moving on, Emmett raises his arms in a 'Come on!' way at Mathias' back.

"Face the facts. You are the resident hottie librarian. We might as well start calling you 'Evie.' You're just less clumsy than she is… Unless you actually have destroyed a library and that's why you had to start a new job here." He laughs at my comment as we go around the next rack for Emmett to put the last row of books in their home.

"And what about you, oh inconvenient loiterer? Are you immune to my charms then?" He reaches over my shoulder to put a book on the shelf behind me, I look up at his face, "And what about your café beau? What was his name? Brett?" Admittedly, when I first started working at that café in my second year of university. I mostly definitely had a bit of a crush on Brett… But about half a year after I started at the café, he got a girlfriend who he ended up staying with until the summer I went to Italy with Venus. And for me, if someone is in a relationship, I find them somehow less attractive, I guess its because if I had any hope of being with them, it would have happened before.

"I've just had more time to acclimate to you. These poor girls basically get blindsided by your charms. I had the fortune of growing up with you nearby, I have gained a natural resistance to them." Or so I thought… He turns back to his cart and the other rack to return the books. "And as for Brett, he has been spoken for a long time. When I first started working at the café, I certainly fell for his charms though. Plus, I've… Changed since I was hired at the café."

"Are you saying it wasn't always that way? Was there a time when a younger me caused a younger you to swoon?" He reaches across to the shelf behind me again.

"You're lucky that it's so late. There are fewer girls to get jealous." Mathias quips as he strolls by with another full cart, "Seriously man, you don't hear half the gossip from the students. The girls all adore you and the guys mostly want to be you. With the exception of a few guys that also adore you." Emmett and I both laugh.

"Never have I heard a truer statement, sir." I say to Mathias' back.

"You know it!" He holds up one fist in the air as he turns the corner to the next section of the library.

"See, even Mathias knows you must tame your lady-killer ways. You know the last rumour I heard about you was that some girl found out you're single."

"Jeez… I haven't even spoke to anyone about my relationship status… They have to be hiring detectives or something… I must applaud their resources." He walks the empty cart to the front, and we are greeted with Bryony's butthurt gaze. She's most upset because she thought that getting a casual part-time job in the library would give her better chances of wooing Emmett, but ultimately, he isn't interested in any girls. At least, not that I'm aware of. But I suppose even if he were, it isn't like he's obligated to tell me.

"Ready to get out of here?" Emmett asks as he grabs his jacket from the library's office.

"Sure. Let's blow this popsicle stand." In things never to be told to Bryony or any of the girls who attend this university… We are neighbours and so it makes sense to go back home together. Although, ever since the whole surprise uncle visit, he has been a little more insistent that we do as much back and forth traveling together as possible. For me, I don't really care, but if it eases his mind, I'm fine with it. Plus, my mom seemed to sound calmer when I told her about Emmett doing that.

Another day of getting home incident-free, Emmett and I head up the stairs after we fetch our mail.

"Have a goodnight, Raea." He smiles kindly.

"Night, Emmett." I go into my suite and place the mail on the kitchen counter before shedding my school bag and my jacket. I fill my kettle and place it on the stove to get it boiling and go back to my mail pile.

Flyer…

Flyer…

Bill that was supposed to only be an email…

And a hand addressed letter with no return sender or stamps. Hmm…

I pat the envelop end to end to confirm there's nothing but paper inside before opening up the end and sliding the letter out.

It's a short and to-the-point letter, and the message is crystal clear.

_Dear Astraea,_

_I hope my letter finds you well. I have been awaiting your reply about our previous conversation. As I promised I am now contacting you. I imagine you contacted your mother about our previous conversation, but I do hope that you have considered my offer to you._

_I will give you another fortnight before contacting you again._

_Again, I do hope that you take this opportunity to grow beyond what your parents have had in mind for you._

_Sincerely,_

_Zachariah Moore_

Again, he seems to like leaving things in the subtext. He intends on coming here to discuss this 'opportunity' with me. A fortnight? Who even talks like that anymore? I lived through it and I don't even talk like that. I look at the date, it reads today and with no postage on the envelop at all… He must have delivered it himself. So in theory he intends to come in two weeks from today… And he probably intends on coming here so I have no way out. This would fall under typical Abstergo tactics. But so would saying that he would give me two weeks while really be planning on only giving me a couple of days or perhaps hours.

I grab my cellphone and dial mom's phone. It doesn't connect leaving me with the message that the caller is outside of the calling area and to try again later.

Damn it.

I still haven't even figure out what put me into Abstergo's radar in the first place. I make sure to get as close to the same grade levels as I used to and even though I've now taken some history classes, to the eyes of anyone looking at my classes and grades, all they would see is someone who is only slightly above mediocre at history. Which is not what Abstergo wants. They want history buffs who can not only differentiate history from storytelling but have a good sense as to where there is history to be found. With the knack for hunting down Pieces of Eden, of course. On paper I should look just like any other student. I have never had appointments with any Abstergo doctors, nor have I ever used Helix technology; so, they have no way to have gotten hold of my DNA.

I really can't stand Abstergo. They just can't keep their noses out of anything… So annoying.

For safety's sake I pack a small bag with essentials that I would need should Abstergo come knocking, such as clothes and an untraceable phone, a few items out of my school bag and put in it the bench by my balcony door, because you can bet if they come here I'm not leaving out the front door.

Once I finish that I have a quick shower and bag up my small toiletries that I would usually just use for travel.

After I hop out of the shower, I get dressed into more practical clothes before calling my mom one more time.

This time it does get through.

"Astraea? How are you, sweetie?"

"Hey, mom. So that guy from before at the café, he sent me a letter. It arrived at my apartment."

"What? So, he knows your address? What did the letter say?"

"It said he would contact me again in two weeks… I think he's planning to come here though, not somewhere public."

"Alright, sweetie, I need you to pack up somethings and go to Emmett. I'll feel better if you're with him instead of alone in your apartment…"

"I'll talk to Emmett about it first and let you know what he says. I don't really want to drop in unannounced."

"I know this seems a little weird but please bear with me on this… I promise we'll talk about it soon. Now, I'm going to make some calls to a few people about this. Please, be careful. I love you."

"Love you too, mom."

I hang up the phone after I hear the click on the other side.

As safe as I know I am alone, I know my mom will likely have already texted Emmett, since as soon as she knew that we were neighbours she went to his parents to get his phone number… I go to the bench where I put my bag and grabbed it. I also added a few of the things I brought in of value from my years of waiting. Other things included in my pack are my laptop and sketchbook. I stuff my purse inside of the bag quickly hoping to leave as little proof that I was home as possible. Or perhaps that I left between them last seeing me arrive and now. The last thing I grab is the small portrait that Yusuf paid to have done for us together… It was no Leonardo, but the artist captured him perfectly. Yusuf had even had the forethought to get in a smaller size so that I could carry it all over with me and not have to leave it in one of my caches.

I stop and realize there is one more thing I should be grabbing… I go to the vent behind my bed and pull out the wooden box wrapped in shrink wrap. I tear open the wrap and open the box to reveal my hidden blade from my times in Istanbul with the Assassins and my Venetian style mask from just before that when I had first met Ezio. I strap on my old hidden blade and pull a loose hoodie on to hide its shape, and gently wrap the mask in a scarf before placing it in the bag as well. Arriving at the door to the hallway I hear something… I focus and extend my senses and see that there are Abstergo agents climbing the stairs just outside my door. I extend my senses further to see more at each emergency stairwell…

Shit.

Hours, I guess.

Fucking Abstergo…

Pieces of shit… I ram my security door stopper under the handle before making my way to the balcony. Then I see a shadow leap onto my balcony. I start getting ready for a fight until I notice that it's Emmett.

I slide open the balcony door.

"What on Earth are you doing on my balcony?"

"I promise I'll explain later, but for now we _have_ to leave." I hear a knock at my door and a voice comes through.

"Astraea? I know you got home. Now please open the door, or I'll have to be more persistent. I truly hope that you will have the sense to hear me out about this opportunity."

"Is that him?" Emmett asks quietly.

"Yeah, sounds like it… But I have the door stopper, so it'll take them at least a few minutes and a decent amount of effort… You are right though… We need to leave…" I step out onto the balcony, ignoring the slight level of confusion on his face.

"Them? How do _you_ know there's more than just him?" He crosses his arms and looks me up and down, expression getting more confused as he takes in my attire.

"You said we'd be saving explanations for later. I think our best bet is to hide in your apartment until they break into mine." First, I spill my emergency escape ladder over the edge of the balcony in case they get this far, then I hop up on the railing and jump over to his balcony silently.

"Alright…" He joins me on his balcony, "But you are going to be explaining as much as me it seems…"

"So it seems." We go into his apartment; he mills about grabbing a few things and putting on a sweater with a deep hood and holds one out for me to put on and hide my face, but I just hold onto it. Then we settle away from the windows hoping to make it so that if they try to look in, they won't see anything. I hear the man offer one more 'opportunity' to open the door. He must really like that word… Then a couple of minutes later we hear them start bashing down the door. A few shouts in the hallway from annoyed neighbours stop rather abruptly, they are likely being either threatened or paid off to be silent.

Emmett starts bouncing his leg and I put my hand on it to calm him down.

"We could be so far away by now… We should be moving." He whispers to me.

"Just wait a little longer… The suites below mine and yours are still empty, if they trap us, we can use the balconies to get to either of those suites and then run. If they happen to be inside either suite, a four or five-story drop isn't so bad."

A crash and then some shouting, before long we hear them in the hallway again.

"She can't have made it far. We have the garage blocked off so she's on foot." Moore says before we hear them all trudge back down the stairs. I extend my senses to listen to him all the way down. I'm only hearing him but by the sound of it he's is on the phone with someone… Could he be working on behalf of someone else? "We must have just missed her. There was an escape ladder off the balcony. Mhmm… Yes. No. There was no activity in the hallways besides disgruntled neighbours. We… Persuaded them to leave us be… Yes. No, a room-to-room search of the whole building would be unnecessary and potentially a huge waste of time and resources. Her apartment looked as though she packed quickly, and then we must have arrived, so she used an emergency balcony ladder to get to the ground before running. Right, I will leave a couple of agents at the doors to watch for her coming back." _I wonder who he's reporting to…_

"Alright. We should leave now…" Emmett stands up, I stand and grab his right arm, feeling through the hoodie almost exactly what I would have expected… And exactly what I didn't want to.

"No, he is going to leave agents at all the doors. Right now, it's probably best if we try to outwait them, if you really want to leave, I suggest we do it up and instead of down. You're able to do it that way, right?" I pull the sleeve of his hoodie up to reveal the hidden-blade underneath.

"You know what this is?" He now looks very confused, and I look him in the eyes.

"Explanations later." I remind him. "If we go to the roof, we could go to one of the nearby buildings and escape that way." And here I had been thinking I didn't want to involve him in the shadowed war, but here he is, already in it.

"Right… Well… Yes, we could do the roof. But, since we seem to have a minute, I just need to contact some friends…" He goes to leave but I hold him for another moment.

"Please… Don't say anything about me knowing…" I plead; I still want to keep my involvement minimal for my family…

"Okay. But I expect a full explanation once we're somewhere safe."

"Of course…" He takes a few steps into the living room and I take the opportunity to use the restroom and splash a little water on my face.

 _This is the last thing I was expecting…_ But I suppose I never knew anything about the whole thing before so maybe its just something I never noticed. I trade my hoodie for the one with the deeper hood, realizing that it's my size, not his. Was he prepared for this possibility? I just hope this hoodie will disguise me as another Assassin in their eyes and not their target.

"Hey… Are you ready? We should probably go before they decide to give this building a more thorough check… I have a place we can go… And, in a few days, someone is going to meet us there."

"Alright." Opening the door I see that his face has more worry on it than anything else... I guess Emmett has always been Emmett, Assassin or not, "Let's go…"

We get to the stairs and I bid farewell to my apartment through the remains of my doorway. Once we are once near the top, I feel them waiting up there. I see Emmett stop suddenly as well. Could it be he can use Eagle Vision? It isn't something all Assassins can use… He is much deeper in this than I imagined. Because typically, only Assassins with lineage in the Brotherhood can access that skill easily. He holds a finger up to his mouth and I nod, then he holds up three fingers. But by my count there's… Eight of them… Still… Between the two of us it shouldn't be much of a problem. But we want to take them out as quickly as we can, the longer it is before they know where we are, or that I am even with someone, the better. I pull the hood up and around my face. Hopefully, all they will see is two fully trained Assassins who were just too late to save their mark.

On his mark, he bursts through the door and I rush out behind him. The three immediately visible swarm him while the other five come around a corner. I immediately launch at them and they all futilely try to fight back, but with how long I've had to fight to survive they don't stand much of a chance and end up on the ground before Emmett finishes the third near him. I had made sure to let three of them get a good look at the small blade protruding from the bracer to be sure that they will just think that it had been two trained Assassins leaving the scene.

He looks from the five fully equipped Abstergo agents writhing on the ground to me and I see his jaw drop.

"I know they said you had really improved a couple of years ago… But… I wasn't expecting anything like this…" He walks over putting his hands on his hips.

"I know… And my family doesn't know. So, please, don't tell _anyone_." I reply quickly eyeing up our escape route.

"You got it… I don't think I'd live for much longer if I did…" He jokes patting my shoulder before looking towards the escape I'm currently evaluating, "Yeah… That way looks as good as any."

* * *

We arrive at a little house, so small it is practically being swallowed by the surrounding trees and bushes. And an hour away from civilization in every direction. The nearest thing to civilization is forty minutes of gravel roads east of us… And it is a hamlet hardly big enough to host the miniature Petro-Can station there.

"Why don't we save explanations for after we have some rest?" Emmett suggests as he drapes a muted camo tarp over the little white sedan we had picked up, courtesy of the Brotherhood.

"I second that…" I need to think about how to approach this now… I had resolved to tell him once the school year had finished anyway but… Things have officially changed.

We go into the small house, the upstairs looking like a typical ramshackle abandoned farmhouse. And we go straight into the basement, where the space had been optimized for short and not so comfortable stays. Two cots on one side, a small kitchenette type space with a mini fridge, a single ratty looking sofa, and a space set into a separate room with a computer set-up and an older looking Animus with a sheet over it.

"I know… The Brotherhood doesn't exactly set up the best digs…" Emmett scratches his had while appraising our space. "But hey, we should be safe here. Especially with that idea you had of planting your phone in that bus going way to the north of the province."

"Why, thank you, sir…" I bow spreading my hands out either side.

"You know… I had gone through in my head what I could say to you if this ever happened… But I was preparing to say that to the…"

"Young, naïve, soft, and ignorant me?"

"I was going to say sweet and innocent… But sure. It's just that your family all seem to think you're still the…"

"The girl that would have been hyperventilating the moment she opened the door to find a small army in black gear pointing guns everywhere?"

"Uh… Yeah…"

"Well, _I'd_ say you lucked out. If it _had_ been that girl, you'd have been caught. Either at the doors escaping… Or on the roof when there were five guys you hadn't noticed. Or when she hadn't realized they could follow her using her phone without going to her service provider or the brand that made her phone."

"Yep… That probably would have happened. Mostly I wasn't expecting them to send a small army to snatch you… I was expecting something like a handful… _If_ they ever sent anyone." Emmett sighs deeply before sinking into rundown sofa.

"Hey, I wasn't ever expecting them to come after me like this… I've never done anything as Astraea Thomas worthy of their attention." I sit down next to him on the sofa, "On that note, you don't seem as surprised about them coming after me as I do. Which, I know, will be explained after we each get rest… So. Who is taking the first watch?" He gives a confused smile.

"I can. I need to contact someone from the Brotherhood anyway… You get some rest."

"Alright, but you better go straight to bed when I say I'm all rested." He narrows his eyes.

"Why so specific?"

"Because I don't need a lot of sleep to be fully rested."

"Fine, if you say so. Now… Go to bed." He points to the two cots on the other side of the room.

* * *

"I swear you are going to burn a hole in the back of my head. I said I would explain. And I will. I… I just need to think of where I can start. It's… It's kind of a lot." I had spent the better part of the day figuring out how to approach this while Emmett had been sleeping. I set down my bag after pulling out the portrait of Yusuf and I, as well as my sketchbook. I also place my hand on the hidden blade from my times with Yusuf, still on my arm under the hoodie and the long-sleeved shirt… Only still working through diligent care.

"I suppose I also have something of an explanation… So, while you sort your brain out, I guess I'll do my explanation." I turn to sit down on the dining chair opposite him in the kitchenette space, "I use the term 'My explanation' in a relative way, it is partially an explanation that your family agreed you should receive as soon as possible after last night. You should know that they never, ever intended you to find out this way…" He starts out, in a tone that is getting me worried.

"They? Meaning my family?"

"Uh… Yeah… Your family."

"I'm sorry, _my_ family? What didn't they want me to find out? That you're an Assassin?"

"Uh, well, that… Yeah… But also that… Well… That they are too." He takes a drink of the water.

"Excuse me?" I lean against the chair's back, "For how long?" He swallows the water hard and begins to cough, then he just looks at me, "How long?"

"Well… Your family has been a prominent Assassin family for… A long time. On both sides." Shit.

_My whole family… A long time… That would mean several generations at the very least… On both my mom's and my dad's sides? But how is this possible? Why would they keep something like this from me?_

Then everything starts to slide into place, the classes my parents put us in as kids… Why after my sixteenth birthday it seemed like we were never all in one place to the exception of one or two times.

"Wait… So… All of them?" He nods, "Dad _and_ Mom?" Another nod, "Mesonyx?" Nod, "Aquilo and Zephyr?" A brisker nod, and I just look at him, afraid to say the last one… Knowing in my mind the answer but hoping in my heart it's wrong, "Venus?" He looks in my eyes for a moment before a slow and damning nod. I put my head between my hands.

Emmett begins to talk again, something about them not being sure whether I was suited for this life and them all agreeing… But my heartbeat pounding in my ears is drowning everything else out. I stand up and slam my hands on the table, startling him into silence. He stands up slowly and comes over to put a hand on my shoulder. He puts his face right in front of mine, his eyes level with mine bringing me back to some semblance of calm.

"So, what Zachariah Moore said was right? My family _really_ had kept something so huge, completely secret from me?" _For my whole life?_

"Your mom… She felt like this life would destroy you from the inside out. And the rest of your family all agreed."

"How do you know that?" I take a step back from him.

"Well, _my_ family is also one of those families with deeper ties to the Brotherhood. And that's why they asked me to keep an eye on you after the ferry incident…"

"So, this whole time… You've been babysitting me? They put you in the suite next to mine, and then had you work at the school where I was studying. Just 'to keep an eye' on me?" I know that this isn't his fault… He is only the unfortunate one to have landed in this position.

"It sounds worse when you say it all out like that…" He scratches the back of his neck and looks down like a kicked puppy, "But, yeah… They were originally going to have some other Assassin do it, but I could tell that your mom didn't appreciate that idea…" He makes eye contact again, "So, I volunteered. She liked that, because if I were to go, you would at least be willing to trust me in this kind of situation. That you would follow me to safety if it were needed." I let myself fall back down onto the dining room chair and he kneels in front of me placing one hand on my knee and the other on my shoulder for a moment, "They only ever wanted to protect you. They love you. All of them." The words slam into me like a wrecking ball.

I can get mad all I want… But at the end of the day… That is that exact same logic I was using as an excuse not to tell them the truth about me immediately after it happened… Or even when Zeph gave me the opportunity to tell him in my apartment and I asked him to wait…

"This must all be some kind of grand cosmic joke." I finally say after enough time had passed that he decided to brew some tea.

"What is?"

"This. Them. Everything." Fuck it. I decide to dive for it and remove the hidden blade from my arm and place it on the table. His eyes practically bug right out of his head when he sets them on the beautifully intricate work that happened as a result of Leonardo's adjustments to the hidden blades. Coupled with the stunning details in the leather and metal, with the gold details and the three precious stones inlayed in it: an emerald and two turquoise… Just like my handfast ring. His hands hover over the beautiful artifact of the late-Renaissance Assassins in awe.

"Where on Earth did you get this? There haven't been blades like this one in…" He pauses to think a moment, "Well, probably four or five hundred years…"

"Good guess. I had gotten my first one when Yusuf convinced me to work with the Assassins in Istanbul in the early fifteen-hundreds. Then I got this one just a little after that. So, yeah, a little over five hundred years ago." I pour two cups of tea and place one in front of him, trying not to let my hands give away my mental state by shaking.

"Wait… What?" Shock at first and then calming down before apparently deciding the sheer impossibility outweighs the shock of me having that blade, "That's not possible. You were born in 1992." He takes a sip of tea in a very matter-of-fact way before sitting back in the chair.

"Yep. I was. But… Something happened. I still don't really know what… Even the greatest Isu minds could never _really_ figure it out. They could only ever figure out the results of what happened…" He spits out his matter-of-fact sip of tea all over the table, luckily away from me.

"Where did you hear about the Isu? Not even all Assassins know they're called that…"

" _Hear_ about the Isu? I _lived_ with them. You know one of the brain-benders of all this?" He looks at me with total disbelief on his face, "My parents named me after myself. Astraea. The starry maiden, virgin goddess of justice, and daughter of Astraeus and Eos."

"Alright… I give. Where are the cameras? Because obviously they told you without telling me just for shits and giggles." He picks up his cup to take another sip. I stand up and remove the hoodie. I freeze for a minute because I know there's no going back from this… I take a deep breath then I remove the long-sleeved shirt leaving only the camisole underneath, revealing the layers of scars on both of my arms, my shoulders, and across my exposed collarbone. I see his jaw drop, "Please tell me that is just a really great makeup job…" He says as his cup lowers to the table slowly while he takes in all the scars on my arms. I shake my head and hold an arm to him. He places his hand gingerly on my arm as though each scar would still hurt even after having been healed for such a long time.

"How is this possible? I saw a photo of you from your trip with Venus that was only _almost_ two years ago… But these scars... They all seem much older than that." He gently slides his hand over the surface of my arm. He traces the long one on my left forearm; the same one that Zeph also noticed first.

"I got that one defending an orphan on the streets of Babylon during the early days of the Persian empire… I'm… A little more durable than the average human… But I think because of that, that when I am injured gravely, the scar takes longer to disappear. It had been on a whim, so I hadn't had the time to draw my sword for defense… But I just couldn't let that kid die, so I used my arm instead."

"So… You really lived all that time? Everything since the Isu ruled the planet? How can that be possible?" He is practically whispering.

"Like I said I don't know… I don't think anyone really knows… Athena… Minerva." I correct, even after all this time I prefer Athena… "She tried, Astraeus and Eos, had been my adoptive parents and they couldn't figure it out… And there are a few gaps of time where I wasn't really living."

"Wait, adoptive parents? Not living? Alright, back up and start from the beginning…" Emmett sits back in his chair again to get a little more comfortable.

"Okay… Well, it started that day on the ferry, or well, I guess once I was off the ferry… A wave had crashed me into the side of the ferry, and I hit my head really hard. I had come to for a couple of minutes, but I had been carried really far away from the ferry. Then a wave pushed me under the water. I drowned. And when I came to, I was on a beach, with no memories, being approach by the most dazzling looking people…"

It took hours, basically all day long after he woke up, with Emmett firing questions every few sentences, it was dark before I even covered most of the important stuff. We had moved from the kitchenette space to the ratty sofa at one point. The big points had been… Approximately when I had woken up on the beach, what happened while I had no memories, and a few smaller points in between. He also had asked for clarification when I mentioned my power, that did take some extra time… And a little demonstration, but I did dissuade further demonstration by saying that anyone watching for power fluctuations in the electrical grid, or atmospheric pressure would see it if I went too far. I also didn't fully disclose all the things I can do.

"Okay… So, you weren't really living for most of the time… You were in that device thing that the one Isu had made in hopes of extending his own life…"

"Ilios, yeah…" We go back to the kitchenette and I make some more tea.

"But that still makes you absurdly old…" He grins making it obvious he means it as teasing.

"Hey, now. Your words. I was 'born in 1992.'"

"Hmm… I did say that…" He smiles at me. He places a hand on my hidden blade, "So you were fighting the Byzantine-Templars then?" He asks and I nod.

"Did you study some Brotherhood history?" I place the mug of steaming tea in front of him.

"Yeah… That era in particular… You know… Animus. And wanting to know more about my ancestor from then." He shrugs.

"Oh. Right. Animus…" I had never thought about it until I started seeing rumours on the dark web about it. "So, what did you see then? Who was your ancestor at that point?"

"Well, they were having troubles synching the memories, so I really only got to see stuff leading up to that until around the time before the Venetian-Ottoman war from one ancestor and then the stuff after the Byzantine-Templars had been defeated and chased from Istanbul from the next one down the line."

"Hmmm… There were a handful of the Assassins from Istanbul who helped with efforts to that end the conflict of the Venetians and the Ottomans… I did meet some of them in Spain at one point too. Of course, that was before they ended the conflict with the Venetians and the Ottomans…" I take a sip of tea to let Emmett finish.

"My ancestor was Yusuf Tazim…" I spew the tea all over the table, just like he had at the beginning of all this, "… And his son…" He says slower as he looks between me and the table.

"What?" I gasp out between coughs, "He had a kid? When?"

"Apparently, he conceived a child in Spain. It must have been just before he met you…"

"Wow… I don't think he even knew… I had met him when the Assassins were leaving Spain, and I had been just going to Spain."

"I'm fairly sure he didn't know… I followed the memories of the kid for a while and he did go to Istanbul as an adult, but as I'm sure you're aware, Yusuf Tazim…"

"Yes... Yusuf was killed fighting the Byzantine-Templars." I take a deep breath and clench my jaw; will this never stop being a hot poker to the heart?

"Hey… Are you okay?" He leans forward to look at me in the eyes.

"I'm fine… I admit that I wasn't expecting to hear that he'd conceived a child at one point…" I confess as I grip the portrait a little tighter in my hands before I pass it to him, "He… Well, he was…"

"I remember in the memories of the son… He found the Assassins there who told him about Yusuf… And that he had found a wife, but never had other children." He gently places the little painting on the table, "So… That was you?" I reach into my shirt and pull Yusuf's ring on the chain out around my neck. I lift the chain over my head and place it on the table, then I pull the ring off my right hand's ring-finger and place it on the table next to Yusuf's ring.

"He was one of the few people I've told everything to…"

"These are beautiful bands. The stones are reversed between them…"

"We never truly got married… We had something like a handfast, because he wanted to ensure the stability of his Brotherhood in Istanbul first, so I had suggested it as way that we could display our… commitment to each other, and he could still devote himself fully to the Brotherhood. We had always intended on marrying once the situation with the Byzantines had been resolved. As for the bands… We each had one made for the other, I had his made and he had mine made. He liked turquoise as a colour so for his band I chose to have a turquoise in the middle for him, with two of my favourite stone, emeralds, on either side. The filigree in the metal matched the brocade of his favourite scarf. He commissioned mine, reversed for the same reason. He had the band made with the little swirls because of how my power manifests." I hold my hand out in front of him and summon a little of the energy that flows through me, like it once flowed through all the Isu. It sparks to life and disappears in undulating swirls, "We had them made separately, and in the end, we made such similar choices."

"You still miss him, don't you?" I pick up the portrait and smile at the memory of him taking me to the waiting artist.

"Yes… I think part of me always will… He always worried about me… Even though I'm a little tougher than most people…" I chuckle at a memory, "There was one time where I had come back to the Brotherhood with some injured Assassins. Once he had them all with others for care, he took me to our space and had me strip right down. Just so he could inspect me for injuries. It was all because I had told him that I'm more durable than a human, and because of that I often would put myself between someone and a potentially killing blow. But I had also told him that even though I may be more durable than a human, I'm not indestructible. After that mission he kept me in the Brotherhood for a whole week! Even though, by his own eyewitness, I hadn't even gotten a scratch." I look into my teacup and I laugh a little more remembering his mother-hen attitude at that point. We remained silent for a few minutes until Emmett broke the silence.

"Well… That was pretty… Heavy." He says taking the mug to the sink, "And I think we could both use some processing time…"

"Yeah… You've always kind of needed extra time to process heavy news." I smile wickedly at him and he play punches me.

Emmett volunteers to take a first watch and I return to the cots to rest. He goes back to the computer space and I listen to him report to the Brotherhood, I recognize the voice on the other side, but I can't place where I know it from. Once it becomes quiet over there, I let myself get a little sleep.


	13. Discovered

**Here is part 2 of the Christmas double update! Merry Christmas!**

* * *

The footsteps approaching pull me away from continuing my drawing, a charcoal sketch portrait of Yusuf. Emmett sets a mug of coffee down on the table in front of me.

"You know, people go their entire lives searching for what you had with Yusuf… The kind of love that doesn't just disappear after death. That's the stuff that people through the ages have written, sung songs, and painted masterpieces about. But… Seeing how in love you still are, I wonder if it's really what everyone should want. Doesn't it hurt? Isn't it more of a burden now?" Emmett asks rather bluntly; I lower the sketchbook and place it on the table next to the coffee and look him in the eyes.

"I'm fine. It does hurt… It really does. More than most of the wounds that made the scars on my body. It's a different kind of pain to be so in love and to have the person taken away. Rage, despair, loathing, and emptiness. That's what I felt after he had been murdered. I let it control me just for a few days… And it almost ruined me. If it hadn't be for an amazing friend I might've ended up in a vastly different place." I do my best to explain how it was at first, "But… Once I managed to look past all of that, I realized that he had given me so much to carry with me for as long as I live. He brought me sunlight when I had been living in the darkest night. It hurts that I won't ever see him again. But I wouldn't give up my time with him for anything." I can't help the smile that grows on my face from picturing his goofy smile, "As for burdens… Well, at this point I have too many to count anyway. His memory is certainly one of the heavier burdens, but I wouldn't dream of living without it… And it's actually one that he encouraged me to share as much as I could. Which is why… Well, to be honest… I had been planning on telling you all of this at some point. My plan had been to tell you once the school year had finished…" I confess while picking up the coffee from the little table.

"Well. That plan had a wrench thrown in it, didn't it?" Emmett wisecracks.

"That's putting it mildly…"

We both laugh, and I feel the laugh more genuinely than I have in a long time… Like I feel lighter, maybe I had just gotten used to how heavy the burden of my knowledge is, and having told someone else has eased some of the burden… Just like Yusuf had wanted.

"I've noticed you drawing him a lot… You always seem to start with one thing, like a landscape… And before long you've gone to the next page and are either doing a portrait of him, one of him standing, or a page full of different views of him…" I look back down at the drawing.

"It has been happening more and more over the last decade or so. I guess… I just don't want to forget his face. Although, I think at this point my hands never will." I chuckle a little and Emmett smiles.

"You know… We do have an Animus set-up here. It's not the newest version by any means, but it still does the trick. You could see him again." He gestures to the Animus set up in the other room.

"No… An Animus is a bad idea for me. If I get too worked up, too emotional, it may lead to me using my power… Which could interrupt the session… Which can lead to my mind getting trapped inside or worse. It could be possible, I suppose, if someone else were in the Animus and I were just watching a feed of it." He nods and drinks his own coffee.

"Fair points… Anyway, soon the third person will be coming to get us out of here. And you'll be able to contact your family…" Emmett adds.

"Is it going to be today?"

"No, likely tomorrow, or the next day."

"Do you know who is coming?"

"They haven't told me, but I have a fairly good idea. If I'm right, they're a close friend. Everyone all agreed it would be a bad idea to have someone from your family come, so they had to go to other Assassins. And things have been pretty busy since October…" As if realizing what he was saying he hushes a little more with each word.

"Yeah, I understand that Hermes' staff is in the hands of someone fighting for the Assassins…" I take another sip and Emmett chokes on his a little.

"I thought you were keeping yourself out of all this to keep your family safe?"

"Well, yeah, but something as big as the staff… I had to know where it ended up… So, I used the dark web to find out through whatever means I could. I even saved an Assassin hacker's neck at one point; he really owes me now. I've saved him before in a similar way…"

"But why was it that important? I thought you were wanting to protect your family, going onto the dark web isn't exactly safe behaviour…" He is just like my family, too sharp.

"It's not like I don't know enough about hacking to keep out of Abstergo's eyes. I can make saving someone look like a fluke in the system to most people…" I look to see if he takes that conversation bait, but alas, his single raised eyebrow says otherwise, "Fine, it was a pretty personal matter to find out where it ended up… I was anxious to find out who Kassandra had been waiting for." I get up and go over to the couch. And Emmett follows…

"I should've guessed! Of course you know Kassandra. I bet you know all about the Staff and what not…"

"Well, Kassandra is… Was… one of my closest friends." Then a look of realization passes over his face, and he sits down beside me.

"Oh… So, that day a little before Halloween… when I found you in the hallway…" He starts.

"Yeah, she had been able to use a little of the Staff's power to say goodbye, before she passed it on…" Despite it having been almost six months ago, her absence still feels so fresh.

"You've had to say goodbye a lot… Haven't you?"

"More than I care to admit… But no matter how many times I do… It never seems to get easier."

"That's because you're human. Loss is something we all have to cope with at some point, and it isn't supposed to be easy if you loved them."

We sit side-by-side on the couch for a while, and before I realize it a comfortable sleep overtakes me.

"Good morning… Are you sure you've slept enough? It's only been four hours…" Emmett asks from the kitchenette as I stretch out on the couch.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Like I said, I don't need much sleep. Actually, four hours is decently good for me." I answer while I stand up and walk into the kitchen space where I fill the kettle and he watches me the whole way over.

"If you sure…" He says doubtfully.

"I'm sure." I reassure.

"It's around midnight now, so I'm going to catch some z's myself. Don't let me sleep past eight though." He favours as he walks over to the cots, "The guy coming to get us is going to arrive around ten in the morning and I'm going to have to clean this place out before we leave. So… Eight o'clock wake up call?"

"You bet. I'll even make sure a coffee is waiting for you." I thumbs up him as I wait for the kettle to boil and he flops onto the cot. Snores start to come from the cot before the water is even boiling.

He sure knows how to fall to sleep…

I look over to the cots as I make my way to the couch and see that he is only mostly on the cot. One leg is just dangling off the edge of the cot as though when he flopped down it just didn't even make it on before he fell asleep.

He stays that way for most of the night, and I just sit and draw. I use the wide arm rest of the couch as the perch for my sketchbook. At first, I doodled some random landscape features like mountains. Then I ended up with a couple of small portraits on the page as well, one of Kassandra and one of Yusuf.

Once he begins to stir, I close the sketchbook and go make a couple mugs of coffee and bring them over to the small stool by the couch. To his luck, the time is now a little after seven thirty.

"Her name is Layla, by the way…" Emmett says as he shuffles over to the couch, still coming out of the deep snore-filled slumber.

"Hmm?" I look over at him.

"The person Kassandra gave the Staff to, her name is Layla. A lot happened and she's been moving around a lot lately, so I don't know if you'll ever meet her…" Oh…

"Thank you… But it's probably best if I don't meet her… Alethiea may still be attached to the staff and she will most certainly recognize me… She did when Kassandra and I had reconnected for the first time."

"Oh?"

"Yeah… It was probably around four hundred years after we had originally parted ways. See I had met Alethiea a couple of times with my adoptive family, but Kassandra and I had parted ways before she had gotten the staff from Pythagoras. So, when we met four hundred years after that Alethiea appeared almost right after we had gotten somewhere private. Needless to say, I was pretty surprised… And so was she. It really lent to how well she did with getting her consciousness to follow the staff though…" I take a sip of my coffee.

He sits down on the couch and just looks over at me.

"This is all going to take some getting used to…" He says while shaking his head a little bit and reaching to grab the still steaming coffee.

"You're telling me… I just found out that my family have all been Assassins, kept it from me, and now I am in the position of whether or not I think I should find out if I may have inadvertently interacted with my ancestors… But… In a way, it almost makes sense… This whole time, I've inexplicably been drawn to the Assassins. Throughout history, I just kept ending up right in the fight. Even before they had a name, before Bayek and Amunet's Hidden Ones, and before Darius… And now I find out that maybe it's because I inherited the fight…"

"I've been thinking about it… And I think that as few people should know about this as possible…" Emmett starts.

"Yes… Honestly, I typically try not to let anyone know. But I don't think it's a viable option in this situation. Especially with my family. There will be questions and if I can have a few people aware of the situation the easier it will be to keep everyone else ignorant."

"Yes, I agree. I do think there are some people outside your family who you could find to be beneficial if they know…"

"Oh? Did you already have some people in mind?"

"Yeah, like I said, I've been thinking about it. Although, you may disagree with some, I think they could really make things easier on you… But I also think that perhaps you should wait to decide until you've met each of them and…"

"And…?"

"And after you've told your family." He stands up and heads over to where his pack was on the ground and picks it up, "With the exception of one, the person coming to pick us up later."

"So we are finally leaving this boring hell?"

"Oh, come on… It hasn't been that bad…" He takes the last swig of his coffee, "Okay… It has been pretty boring… But in my defense, I was more prepared for you to have an interest in using the Animus… Which would have made it all considerably less boring. Plus, it's only been a couple of days…"

"Oh, is that right?" I ask skeptically, he just shrugs and grins, "Anyway, I'm going to go pack up my things and go up to the land of the sun for a while." I stand and walk towards the cots area to collect my bag.

"Alright, but Raea?" I turn to face him, "Promise you'll think about what I said." I look over to him holding his bag and stuffing a shirt inside.

"I'll think about it… Also, in your defense… If it had been the old me, I would have been extremely interested in the Animus." I answer.

Packing happens quickly since there hadn't been a whole lot to unpack in the first place, so pretty soon I'm up in the sun laying in the long grass.

I let myself daydream for a while soaking in the heat of a late April sun a little after ten. Then I feel the rumble in the ground. I sit up to see the dust plume from the gravel road leading in the direction.

I get myself high up one the trees closest to the house and as they pull into the grown over driveway, I take a breath and mask everything about myself to the point where even the highest trained Assassins wouldn't be able to detect me.

I see the person exit the plain looking silver sedan, a man with raven coloured hair and his hand places a katana on his hip. I see him go into the house and I dismount the tree into the soft, tall grass the only sound coming from the snapping of a few thicker stalks of grass. I listen carefully inside for signs of struggle, but none come then I hear Emmett greeting the man with friendly tones.

Walking past the car, I see it has Ontario plates on it.

I walk into the house and then towards the basement.

"Ah, there you are you are Astraea. Meet our guide for the next portion of our journey away from your crazed uncle, Kiyoshi Takakura." Must be a more common name than I thought… A decade or so ago I helped a kid in Japan by the name who had almost ended up at the bad end of a katana from a mafia type. The man turns around and his eyes travel up and down as though he were evaluating me.

"So, you are the Little Sister then?" Kiyoshi asks.

"Oh no… Don't tell me they've been calling me that this whole time?" I ask, while it may not bother me so much now that I am more confident in myself, the me that I was before would have been right riled up about being titled 'the Little Sister' without ever getting a chance to be anything else.

"Only to anyone who will listen." Kiyoshi laughs, "Admittedly they are all deeply concerned about you… I have heard from all of them… At least once each."

"Oh boy… I just love to have a reputation… Especially one that sounds so…"

"Belittling?" A snort from Emmett as Kiyoshi lets loose his comedic genius.

"Oh, har har har… Very funny." I say before walking into the basement with the two of them trailing behind me.

"Are you two ready to go?" Kiyoshi asks as we get to the bottom.

"Yeah, we both got set to go and I cleaned up." Emmett gestures to the bleach and other cleaners on the table.

"Alright, we should probably leave quickly. Abstergo has been keeping an eye on the airports in the province so we are going to be going across the Rocky Mountains to the coast to use the bigger airport in Vancouver since it is easier to lose people inside there. I'll explain more on the way, but it is going to be a lot of travelling before you're done." Kiyoshi says suddenly sounding much more serious, as though a switch had been flipped. Without a doubt… This man is the kid I had saved from what would have been a fatal katana attack that left a decent scar on my right wrist.

"Damn… Why are they so desperate?" Emmett's shoulders slump a little at hearing how long our travel is meant to be.

"Well, he did give me that note the first time. And if they let me be for so long after that, they must have thought they at least had a chance of getting to me first…" I say.

"What note?" Kiyoshi asks as we climb back up the stairs and lock the door.

"Well, he had cornered me in a café I had worked in before. Then he had given me an envelop to prove who he was to me. I imagine he was hoping I would feel betrayed by my family for keeping secrets, making me vulnerable to him coming in to comfort me and gain my trust. Anyway, the note inside the envelop had said that they had been trying for a long time to track down me, and or, my siblings before the Brotherhood got to them."

"And you, being the 'Little Sister'…" Kiyoshi comes to the conclusion I was leading into.

"Represent their last opportunity." Emmett finishes.

"Awe… You guys are cute. Finishing each other's sentences." I say as I climb in the backseat and close the door of the car. I hear Kiyoshi say to Emmett 'You can tell she's related to them.' I smile to myself and think, maybe I haven't lost as much of myself as I thought…

We pass the road that leads into Banff, silent besides the occasional comment between those two up in the front of the car. Kiyoshi had explained that we would be flying to LAX where we will find a vehicle to take to San Francisco to catch a plane to New York. Then, from New York we will be going to Bucharest where we will be catching a smaller plane to go to a small town in southern North Macedonia. Which is apparently where my mom's dig is currently based out of. Not in the northern area of Turkey bordering Greece… Like she said… And while it is near some Ancient Greek ruins, she is not looking for Ancient Greek ruins. She is looking for an Isu site that they believe to be in that area. Although, to my knowledge there wasn't much in that specific area… It is decently close to where they would find the ruins of Ilios' lab. By decently close I mean that it would be a day or so of driving to get there.

All in all… This is going to be a long trip. And even better? Emmett and I are being slated as a couple going home on the flight to Los Angeles. Then a married couple heading on a one-year anniversary trip on the subsequent flights. They have even given us a set of passports for the flight to Los Angeles, with a new set waiting in the car parked at the airport there. They've even prepared us with believable luggage for each trip section. Hiding in plain sight indeed.

On this mountain bound trip we are even taking planned pitstops for photos for it to seem more legitimate.

Kiyoshi is only taking us to the airport in Vancouver, then he has to go somewhere else. He just happened to be the best choice at the time they needed someone. It's been an hour and a half, and he hasn't said anything yet… But I have seen him look back at me a few times now… Now, it could be that he thinks I look familiar and can't place me. But it could also be that he does recognize and doesn't want to sound crazy in front of Emmett. And the least likely option, but still slightly possible, is that he is simple looking to try and find similarities between me and my siblings. That last one being the furthest stretch on possibility.

"But we still can't account for why they would be so desperate for you or any of your siblings… There's nothing DNA wise they don't already have access to." Emmett ponders out loud, "What with how they got the DNA of your cousin on your dad's side, and the fact that Moore has pretty much anything else your DNA represents… Besides—" Emmett stops abruptly, and Kiyoshi takes over.

"Perhaps one of our resident hackers will have an answer for you once you arrive at your destination. I understand that Shaun is already at where you are heading… Helping out Aurora actually." Kiyoshi says to me. Shaun, huh? Well… The world just keeps getting smaller… I've encountered Shaun on the dark web before. In fact… He is the Assassin hacker whose trail I swept away just as an Abstergo hacker was about to happen upon it by pure chance. Twice now.

"Hastings? Wow… I imagine that means that—" Emmett starts.

"Rebecca is there too? Of course. They've been a pair since the whole 2012 business." Kiyoshi finishes yet again.

"They must be really hopeful about this supposed site then." Emmett concludes.

"Yes. There have been a lot of things supposedly pointing right to this location." Kiyoshi purposefully looks at me in the rear-view, "Did you use the Animus to take a look at some of your ancestors while you were waiting?"

"Uh… Well, I was a little nervous about it… I've heard bad rumours about what can go wrong and…" I stumble through some flimsy excuses.

"I understand. There are a lot of people who prefer not to use the Animus. Usually however, it is not the people with so rich a… lineage in the Brotherhood." Kiyoshi nods looking at the road again.

"Yeah… Emmett mentioned that I have a lot of family history with this Brotherhood…"

"If it helps… There are a lot of people looking forward to meeting you. Not very many families associated with the Assassins get to be a big as yours." It almost feels like he wants to lead the conversation somewhere but can't find the way to get it where he wants it.

"Yeah, I can imagine if the rival here is a corporate giant like Abstergo…" I already knew that Assassin families are generally small, one or two kids maybe… Almost never five. Which I guess lent to me never even considering that my family could even be Assassins.

"Exactly. Which is why so many want to meet you. I imagine at this point you are probably the most hotly discussed topic." Kiyoshi concludes the line of thought.

"Oh great…" He just chuckles at my comment and we continue along the road to Vancouver... T-minus 10 hours of driving to go.

I try to seem like I'm sleeping in the back for a ways, to at least get Emmett off my back about sleep. But it doesn't take long before Kiyoshi announces that we'll taking a pitstop at the Spiral Tunnels and that there likely won't be another stop until a couple of areas around Revelstoke.

Emmett races out to go to the washrooms first. Washrooms here of course being stalled outhouses. I just head to the railing to look out over the grand valley.

"A lot of people have talked about your family…" Kiyoshi says as he walks up and stands next to me as a train enters the valley and makes its way into the lower Spiral Tunnel, "You have been incredibly lucky to have not been brought into this business sooner considering how involved you family is."

"I suppose you're right. I have been lucky. Even though I didn't always see it." I leave him there and go to the washrooms myself. After Emmett and I take a few coupley photos to help solidify our guise once we are 'heading home' to Los Angeles. According to Kiyoshi, this was mostly Venus' idea; with a peppering of influence from Aquilo.

For the rest of the day we make a few stops, some planned others took some convincing to make but at all of them we added pictures to the collection. Emmett had brought up at it would seem weird that there are no pictures of any other parts of this supposed trip, but I suggested that perhaps I lost the main camera with the pictures to a waterfall just after leaving Calgary.

At each stop we make Kiyoshi chats with me a little bit, each time only saying a little, but it seems like he isn't saying what he really wants to. Although, it seems to be enough to have put me a little on edge, which I was not expecting. I suppose it must be wondering whether he's realized who I am in relation to him, or not.

Notably, I was able to sling a few burns and quips into whatever happened to be the topic of discussion. Often these comments earned a belly-laugh from Emmett and at the very least a grin from Kiyoshi.

For the night, we end up at a small mid-ranged motel with a decently sized pool. We end up with a second story room with a small balcony that hosts a small bistro set. With only two beds however that implies one of us will be keeping watch. For which I volunteered as I was the only one who didn't drive at all. Emmett, having taken over driving after our Spiral Tunnels stop flops onto one of the beds and immediately begins to snore.

I swear, it's a skill for that man.

I go out onto the balcony and sit down with my sketchbook. Not really sure if I'm going to draw but I feel comforted by having it nearby.

"It has never been hard for Emmett to sleep when he needs to…" Kiyoshi says as he steps onto the balcony, he had undone a couple of the buttons on his shirt revealing tattoos on his chest. He must have gotten them when he was with the yakuza…

"You've got tattoos, what are they?"

"Green dragons, two of them. I got them during my time with the Onmoraki-Gumi."

"Cool… So, how did you end up in the Brotherhood?" I ask another to keep him from asking me too many.

"Osoroshiibaba came to us in… 2013 or so. Some of our group had ended up having a misunderstanding with some Assassins in Osaka. It ended up with her taking over the yakuza group and bringing us into the Brotherhood." He answers, and I pause my questions for a moment and only a moment. But a moment too long, nonetheless, "That ring… Where did you get it?" Uh oh… Of all the things for him to notice I didn't really expect it to be my ring…

"I got it from… Someone I cared about deeply." I touch the ring on my right hand's ring finger.

"May I see it closer?" He holds his hand open on the table, I place mine there and he picks it up and looks closely at the ring. "How is this possible?" He asks as he brings his eyes up to examine me a little closer.

"What do you mean?" Hoping I can play dumb a little longer.

"Please, don't play dumb. You answered me the same way thirteen years ago before I had even joined the yakuza in Osaka." He holds my hand firmly and as I try to pull away, he forces my sleeve up my right arm to reveal the three-inch scar I got saving him, "And this. This is exactly where you took that sword to save me."

Shit.

Fuck.

Damn.

Apparently, I need to be less consistent.

"I'll ask again… How is this possible?"

"I didn't think you'd remember me that well, what with the trauma and all… So, I didn't think that you seeing me then would have made this much of a difference. I mean, you were a teenager. In Japan. I wasn't expecting to see you at this point. Not to mention the fact that I had no idea my family was involved with the Assassins." He releases my hand and sits back in his chair, "As for how it's possible… The bottom line is that no one really knows. I can tell you when it all started though if you really want to hear it." I guess Emmett is getting his wish…

"We have time. We can make Emmett drive in the morning." I snort a little laughter at Kiyoshi's quip, and he smiles a little.

So, without going into much detail, I tell Kiyoshi about how I am the youngest sibling of those he's been fighting semi-alongside and the woman who rescued him from a rival gang as a teenager in Osaka.

"So, you've been alive all this time and haven't been able to find out why? Or how?" He asks about five minutes after I finish, then I pick up the pencil that had been laying on my sketchbook and fiddle with it.

"Correct."

"Does anyone in your family know?"

"I haven't told any of them yet…" I fiddle with my pencil again, "But Zeph… He noticed the difference right away, so I had to tell him a little… But I also made a bargain with him. A bargain that's going to be fulfilled sooner than I had originally intended…"

"I am not surprised. Zephyr is very sharp, even in terms of Assassins." Kiyoshi comments.

"You're telling me! He noticed the moment he saw me in the hospital in Italy, even though he hadn't seen me at all for months before the incident." I put the pencil on the table, "So he is probably the first family member I'm going to tell… He deserves that much for going on faith to begin with."

"Does Emmett know?" Kiyoshi gestures to the room.

"Yes… They sent a small army to collect me. I had to do something, or we wouldn't have made it out of the apartment, let alone the city. And he certainly noticed me take out five of them solo before he finished dealing with three."

"He did say that there seemed to be a lot more agents than he had anticipated…" Kiyoshi comments looking very pensive, until he looks up at me and then his watch, "There's still some time if you want to sleep…"

"No thanks. I don't need much rest and I can get some shut eye in the car once we're on the road tomorrow. You go ahead and get some rest; you did more driving than me anyway." He chuckles lightly from my tiny attempt at humour before standing up, saying 'goodnight,' and closing the balcony door.

"Did Kiyoshi take over at any point or have you been out here all night long?" Emmett says as he steps onto the balcony and sits on the chair opposite me.

"I've been out all night long. But I'm fine, I told Kiyoshi to sleep, he drove all the way to get us and then some, so I said as long as I can snag a few hours during the rest of the drive I'll be fine."

"If you say so…" Emmett replies after just looking at me for a few minutes.

"On the note of you waking up though… I'm going to go have a shower."

"Dang it. I guess I'll wait till the next hotel then…" Emmett snaps in an 'Oh darn' swish of his arm. I stand up and go to the door and stick my tongue out at him as I go into the room.

While the water runs down my back, the thoughts begin to plague me over who all I should tell. Having discussed with Kiyoshi about not having told my family brings the fears to my mind. The fears I have been grappling with for centuries. What will my family think? How will my family react? Will they even still love me after knowing how much death I have sown in the world? After they know how much blood stains my hands… And after they know how long I've lived… Will they even still see me as their Astraea? Or will they realize the truth of how far gone I am? That perhaps, despite everything Yusuf said, that I'm truly no longer human in any sense of the word…

Really, though… They were all, apparently, in agreement that even the knowledge of the secret war waged over all this time would cause me irreparable psychological trauma. And… Truth be told, regarding who I once was, they were right. If they had told me about all of this then, perhaps I would have in some sense, given up on the world.

But now… Now I'm stronger. More resilient.

Less…

Human.

And what if they think less of me for it?


	14. Arrivals and Departures

**Happy New Year!**

**I wish everyone a wonderful, healthy, and safe new year!**

**For the new year, here is another double update!**

* * *

The world blurs by, rocky mountainsides then lush forests.

"You've been awfully quiet back there all day long… Is everything okay?" Emmett says to me between his chair and the car door.

"Hmm?" I turn to look at him while leaning my head on the window, "I'm fine, it's…" Nothing.

"And don't you dare say 'nothing.' You _do_ still have facial expressions." He says quieter. Is he trying to be quiet because of Kiyoshi? Did Kiyoshi not tell him that he knows?

"Tch."

"Ha! I knew it was something. Now spill." Emmett shouts before remembering where we are, "Oops. Sorry Kiyo…"

"No, it's fine. But I admit that I also am concerned with how quiet you've been today. At least yesterday you were making snide remarks and sarcastic comments periodically, much like your siblings." Kiyoshi says without taking his eyes off the road ahead even once.

Great. I can't even be quiet around Assassins without them figuring something out. I guess it's the little things I forget… Yusuf and his Assassins also often had an uncanny sense of each other's mental wellbeing.

"I'm fine, I just have a lot on my mind is all… But Kiyoshi, what do you have up next? Vancouver is kind of a dead-end roads wise…" I try to deflect the subject.

"I've been asked to investigate something in Japan by the leader of the Brotherhood there. I'll be catching a plane there at the airport." Emmett, who had looked ready to re-bring up my silence, suddenly looks over to the driver jaw agape.

"Since when did you two get so chummy? Did I miss something?" He adjusts himself in the front seat.

"I really can't believe you didn't say something while I was in the shower this morning." I say to Kiyoshi, "You _were_ both awake when I got out, and thought you would have chatted about it…"

"I thought it would be more fun to let it happen organically, he is amusing when he's left out of the loop. Especially a small loop like this one." I see Emmett's eyes narrow at Kiyoshi while he talks.

Kiyoshi isn't wrong. This is deeply amusing.

"I'm still lost here. What on Earth happened? I've never seen you be so… Chatty with someone new before…" Emmett says to Kiyoshi poking his shoulder in a very not-twenty-eight-years-old fashion.

"That is because I'm not chatty with new people." Kiyoshi states seriously, "She is decidedly _not_ new." He adds, further confusing the poor Emmett. He hides it well, but I can spot the slightest upwards curve of Kiyoshi's lips as he sows further confusion with Emmett.

"And so mean…" I comment, deepening the slowly growing shit-eating grin on Kiyoshi's face.

Kiyoshi continues his mean-streak fueled teasing with Emmett for the next twenty minutes until we stop for a break. Then he goes right on confusing him after we hit the road again for another thirty minutes. With the last ten minutes consisting of Emmett pouting in the front seat looking out the window.

Then Kiyoshi lets up and tells Emmett about how I saved him as a kid and that we sorted everything out last night.

"So you guys already knew each other?" Emmett confirms for the eighteenth time.

"Yes." Kiyoshi answers again, "Although, I admit I hadn't been totally sure until I saw the ring and the scar on your wrist."

"Yeah… I guess anyone would have trouble forgetting that I was more surprised you remembered those details about me…" I say referring to what I had said about the ring back then.

"It did get in my mouth… And my ear… And my nose." Yeah… I remember the expression he had on his face then too… Not that there is a right way to react to having a sword coming at your face one moment then a nice splash of blood across your face the next, "That said… It _was_ better than what I originally saw coming towards my face and had been expecting until… Well."

"Yeah… It was a good swing too. Skillful guy."

"But not skillful enough." I snicker a little at Kiyoshi's comment. Because no. No, he was _not_ skillful enough to face me… I doubt there are many who would be. Even as a team.

"That matching is unfair to ask of anyone…" I shoot back.

"Yeah, a win against you will likely take a team that works like a well-oiled machine and has a perfect strategy to boot." Emmett comments.

"Probably—"

"So what could have such a person so sullen?" Kiyoshi abruptly sneaks into the conversation and Emmett turns to face me grinning expectantly.

God dammit.

"Really, I'm fine. I just have a lot going through my mind. It's not every day in a millennia that I find out that by acting in favour of Assassins I likely perpetuated my own lineage. Thereby ensuring my own existence." I give a little huff hoping that they buy that excuse… Because even though that is a thought that occurred to me, in truth it doesn't bother me much. I've saved a lot of people and likely perpetuated many lineages throughout my years.

"True… But I mean… You stayed away from tragedies you knew about, right?"

"Even if I hadn't, it's not like anyone would even know. But you are right. I did often keep tragedies I knew about at arms length. It was hard a lot… But I know that those tragedies were often a key point for a good change… It was never easy."

* * *

_The dock is absolutely packed… I'm glad I'm up here looking down at it…_

_And I knew there had been class differences but… Seeing how different the people entering at the lower decks are being treated really hits differently._

I wonder which of these people will survive…

" _Astraea! I didn't expect to see you here." I turn to see Kassandra in a higher-class outfit, "But I suppose it makes sense, this is a huge step for humanity. Just look at the size of this ship!" She sets some luggage down as she stops beside me to admire the_ Titanic _. "Just imagine what Barnabas would say!"_

" _He would likely say something along the lines of 'man being too arrogant to think they could call a ship unsinkable.'" Which I say in my best 'Barnabas' voice. "Then he would follow up with something about Poseidon's wrath." Kassandra laughs._

" _Yes, yes he would say something_ exactly _like that."_

" _Kassandra… You aren't going on the ship, are you?" I have done my best not to share any of the horrors I hold in my mind and wait for as time passes, but I cannot in good conscience let my friend board that ship._

" _Why of course I am! This is an amazing achievement, and I don't want to miss it." She picks up her luggage and I can't help but reach out and grab her arm to stop her._

" _Don't." I bite my lip. Usually, I can keep my composure in these situations. I reason using the good things I know come of a tragedy… Like how the sinking of the_ Titanic _ushered in better ship safety rules, especially concerning lifeboats on a ship and other reforms that will come of this. But with Kassandra so ready to hop aboard… What can I even say?_

" _Astraea? Why not? What is wrong?" She sets her luggage back down and leans down to look in my eyes._

" _I…" I cover my mouth, "I can't say it. Not here." My heart aches for all the people bustling around on the dock below._

" _Okay… I won't go." I hug her tightly as I watch a raggedly dressed woman point up to the ship with her daughter holding her hand before they walk along the ramp onto the lower decks of the ship._

* * *

"Earth to Raea… Raea, do you read me?" I give Emmett a strange look, "Ah, there you are. You totally spaced out for a minute there… What were you thinking of?"

"I was thinking about that time I watched the _Titanic_ cast off."

"Oh." Emmett settles for a moment, "Obviously you didn't stop it."

"I wouldn't have been able to. Cross-dressing only hides so much, and to claim that the unsinkable ship would fail to reach its destination, let alone that it would fail because it will sink? At best I would have been taken to an early twentieth century loonie-bin, which is nothing to scoff at. At worst, I could have been accused of trying to sabotage it myself and been put up for execution or something. And as a woman? My words wouldn't have held enough weight to change anything anyway."

After a few minutes of silence in the front seat I start to hope that they took that to be the weight on my mind.

"That's really awful... I bet there were other things like that too." Emmett pauses for a moment before continuing, "But I feel like that isn't really what's bothering you… Seriously, Raea, I'm worried. What's wrong?" How can he be so persistently right?

"I'm sorry, I don't mean to worry you…" Is it okay to confide in him? In them? It's been so long since I truly confided anything in someone other than Kassandra… I've told a handful of people basic things in preparation to resume my life, but until just last week I hadn't even imagined telling anyone the full truth for another couple of decades…

"Really, I am sorry for worrying you… But… I don't think I'm ready to talk about this just yet." I pause to gather my thoughts some more, "I need to figure a few things out… Then maybe I'll be able to talk about it, but for now…"

"Okay." Emmett says without letting me say anything else, "I guess I need to remember that even though you've had so much time you're still only human, and sometimes you need time to process information."

What?

I feel a little of the weight on my mind lift away, like beams of moonlight breaking through deep, menacing storm clouds.

"And you shouldn't let yourself forget that either." Kiyoshi add from the driver's seat.

"Thank you." I say before looking back out the window.

Could it be that simple?

Could worrying about this and needing time to think it over really make me more human?

* * *

We had to say our goodbyes in the car before Emmett and I got out at the departures area of the airport. And even if we see each other inside the airport we have to act as though we don't know each other. Which only makes sense… The less we leave for Abstergo to follow, the better. In theory they know that we didn't get out of the province just the two of us, or at the very least that I didn't get out of the province alone. Which if this Zachariah Moore character is even a little intelligent, he will have thought of the possibility that I am now in the hands of the Assassins.

Now it almost becomes a competition of who can be more secretive. Who can keep hidden from whom better? Whether it's us, keeping our presence secret by all these roundabout stops in our travels… Or them, carefully stalking behind us using whatever tracks and trails they can find.

I have been keeping an eye on underground webpages that have people who post about any Abstergo movements they find, and on whatever Abstergo emails I can lay my hands on. Luckily, Zachariah was kind enough to leave his email with me, so I can home in on any emails to, from, or mentioning him.

"Are you ready to go, hun?" Emmett asks as he picks up his cardigan.

"Is it finally time to get home?" I ask; we have been doing very well with keeping the characters. I played off my ring from Yusuf as a promise ring from him to the woman at security as I put it back on my finger. I asked her to keep the other ring 'secret' because I hadn't found the right moment to give it to him yet. Although, the Assassins are just as innovative as they once were… Using ceramic blades in the hidden blades to get them through airport security. With mine, I just removed the blade and stuck it in with a box of graphite sticks and charcoal with my sketchbook. Found out that worked by accident when I once opened up my pencil case after getting to our destination, only to find my utility knife inside. That had been long before the ferry incident.

"Yeah, our flight just went over the intercom, let's get to our gate." He holds out a hand.

"Finally… This has been amazing, but I really can't wait to get back to my bed."

"Took the words right out of my mouth." He replies as we make our way through the crowded Vancouver airport.

As per a suggestion by me, part of our escape is including a flight out of Winnipeg to Vancouver in about a day with two people using the last name 'Lykaios' because it is my mom's maiden name. There was also a flight leaving Grande Prairie, where the bus would have gone, to Toronto, using the last name 'Moore.' So hopefully they follow one of those trails. and not the one with names that sound like they popped out of an internet name generator… With me being one Miss Jamie Nicholsen and Emmett being one Mister Quinten Perry.

We sit down in our seats near the back of the plane and settle in for the first of our coming flights.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAA

"Okay… So, let me get this straight." Emmett says, yet again, from the passenger seat.

"Hmm." It only took four separate explanations…

"You have been hoarding things… This whole time."

"Yup."

"And you have caches… All over the globe."

"Right again."

"And these caches are probably multi-million dollar finds just sitting around?"

"They are not 'just sitting around.' Most of them are in place that people can't easily get to that have been lost by history in unforgiving areas… Hidden by other means in more mundane settings… Or they are in or under places that I own. Therefore, no one will be entering them."

"But how—"

"Plus. I check them usually every decade or so. The last time being immediately before replacing the me that was lost in the Tyrrhenian Sea. I actually also condensed most of them to just a few caches that are all within privately owned spaces. Most of which are modest looking."

"Okay… Okay. I get it. But how much do you think you're worth then?"

"You don't want that answer."

"But…" I look over at him for a few seconds, "Fine… Next." Sweet Jesus… "You mentioned you have a company that you began and own. What did you mean?"

"Well, I couldn't very well put everything under one name and expect that to fly legally forever… Legally, my company has been passed down generation to generation since its founding. Which was a long time ago in Europe. Luckily, I was thinking ahead."

"What about now? A company has more hoops to jump through to be considered legitimate, right? What with the prevalence of fraudulent companies created for the purpose of money laundering." Emmett counters.

"The answer there is two-fold. First, most companies older than three-hundred years do not get that kind of attention, usually. Second, I have entrusted the running of the company to someone I saved a long time ago. I also helped keep their family out of Abstergo's eyes for long enough that their children all grew up."

"Another one? What? Do you literally just run around saving people?"

"Not everyone _can_ be saved. I save anyone who happens to be in front of me. Although, for a long time I did try saving everyone. I burnt out and drew too much attention. I ended up at the bottom of a sea for a while because of it."

I hear the pop of his mouth opening as his jaw drops. _Yes… I love when something I say gets that reaction._

"Okay… Then…?" He pushes for more.

"Well, I had been rescuing too many people from disasters, bandits, et cetera… Some of the people got spooked by some of the situations I came out of. Would have been close to 300 BCE, during Alexander the Great's rule… Anyway, a few leaders of the local Greek armies got all spooked by me… They swarmed me, overpowered me, put me in a wooden coffin-like box and tossed me off a ship into the Caspian Sea." Emmett remains silent for more than five whole minutes before asking the next most obvious question.

"Did I miss something, or did I understand that you were dump into a sea… And _not_ rescued? I was waiting for the 'Oh, then such and such person who I saved came along and fished me outta there right after the army people left.' Was this a trick question?"

"While I did save a lot of people in that area, they did not dare move against the Greek armies. Or they directly participated in the affair. So… No. I was left under those waters for a long time…"

"But… How are you here then?"

"Ropes don't last forever in the water and wood does get brittle over time. But when I'm deprived of something essential, like oxygen, I simply go into a sort of hibernation. Drowning takes a long time for me, but it does happen eventually. Then I just fall asleep, until my body is reintroduced to oxygen. Then things get moving again and I wake up."

"Good god… That must have been horrible."

"It definitely wasn't fun, by the time I surfaced, the rule of the area had changed, and several generations had lived out their lives. And the story of a demonic woman from Tartarus had become a folk tale." I continue.

"Damn…" Emmett breaths.

"I suppose that was when my distrust of people really kicked off. Until then I had only had mostly decent experiences with the people… But I also hadn't ever been so active in one area prior to then. Suffice it to say, I learnt my lesson." I conclude.

"Yeah… I imagine so…" Emmett was solemnly silent for the next several hours, only talking when the trip to San Francisco needed it. Yusuf had been the only other person I ever told about that experience… Especially since, even though I play it off easily, it is not easy for me to tell. I remember that being one of the only times I ever felt completely helpless. Not only had I still been hesitant to kill then, even in self-defence, but they had legitimately overpowered me with sheer numbers. And because of it I had avoided people for near on a century after that. I had gone to the mountains of present-day Tajikistan and stayed there for a long time… Luckily, I did manage to follow my gut out of the mountains to Rome, only to stumble over Kassandra there.

* * *

Upon our arrival in Bucharest, there is a man with a sign held up bearing our phase two names on it, Emmett as one Jackson Mays, and I as his wife, one Charlotte Mays. Our nicknames naturally being Jack and Lottie, which sounds very twenties to me.

The car takes us to a smaller airport meant for private jets and shipping flights. The dark of a fresh night just settling in as we arrive at the small jet near the runway.

As we get to the small private carrier plane, I recognize the logo on the side of the tail. Recognition happening since I was the one who originally penned it… I watch and see a woman I know step out of the plane to greet us, Silvija Leko. Her deep brown hair having earned a little more silver since I last saw her.

The car stops and we get out, her eyes go over Emmett, she's met him before… Then her eyes settle on me and I see the moment of shock pass over her face.

"Danyka?" She walks over to me smiling.

"You can call me by my real name now… But keep it on the downlow from any Assassins other than this guy and a few others, I'll update you later on that… But I don't need them knowing I have a small private shipping company." I answer her.

"Yes, I can imagine why…" She says sarcastically, knowing that if the greater Brotherhood knew I had access to a small private fleet of jets would make them want to take advantage of it and that would more than likely draw too much Abstergo attention to my little antiquities shipping business. "I didn't realize that this flight was for you though, Astraea."

"Yeah… And I didn't know my whole family are Assassins… But, hey, here we are. Anyway, how are your kids doing?" She chuckles at my comment before smiling fondly over the thoughts of her kids.

"Oh, they're great. No signs of trouble for any of them yet. Tomi just graduated from his doctorate in physics, Ben just got a job at an engineering firm, and Renata just married her girlfriend a couple of months ago. So now I even have a daughter-in-law and they are working towards adopting a child of their own. And they all have gotten to lead normal lives, thanks to you."

"Wait, you know her?" Emmett says as he gets closer.

"Are you talking to me or her? And obviously, yes, we know each other." I ask and then snidely remark as he gets closer with the two suitcases.

"Both, I guess… And I meant 'how.' How do you know each other?" I watch his eyes practically roll into the back of his head in response to my snide remark.

"Well… You remember that company I mentioned?"

"Uh… Yeah. How could I forget that bit among of all the absurd things I heard on this seemingly endless trip?" He snidely jabs at my information dumps.

"Yeah, well…" I gesture to the plane, "Anyway, let's get going… I'm about ready to be done with all this travel…" I walk towards the jet with Silvija, leaving Emmett with his jaw dropped once again.

"So Renata has finished her schooling too, then?" I ask Silvija as we climb the steps into the jet.

"Yeah, she just got a job with a smaller video games company out of Finland, so she and her wife are moving out there for a while."

"Wow! That's fantastic. With Helix out there the video game world is as competitive as ever I imagine…" We get into the jet and I look down the cabin to see someone already sitting in one the seats looking out the window to where the car is sitting. I look to Silvija and make a strained expression because I know exactly who it is… And I am _not_ ready for this.

"Did you know he was in here?" I whisper, she nods and puts her hands in front of her for forgiveness.

"He asked me not to say anything… Sorry." And with that she heads into the flight deck to prep for take-off. Then Emmett comes to the entrance of the plane where I've gotten stuck and he pushes me forward.

"What's the hold up?" He squeezes past me and spots the person waiting for us, "Zeph! Hey, man! Long time no see… How are you doing? And what are you doing here? I thought you were somewhere in Norway?"

"I was for a little while, but they've shuffled all of us since Moore made his move towards Raea." Zephyr stands up and bro hugs Emmett, then walks to the front of the cabin and hugs me. "Hey, Raea… I'm really glad to see your okay." I feel the tension that had been building since leaving my apartment melt away for a moment and I hug him back.

We settle in for the take off and I do my best to find ways of approaching the subject that I know he wants to talk about. Zeph only staring at me from the seat in front of me, his cool grey eyes piercing through the space between us easily, patiently waiting for me to bring it up.

"How are the rest of them?" Emmett asks after looking over at me. He is a good friend. He knows I've been worried about them.

"They're all doing well enough. Aquilo is waiting at our destination, and Venus is fine… I, predictably, haven't heard from Nyx though." He says, and I sigh at hearing at least a little good news.

"So… Zeph… All this… It's why you agreed to that bargain, isn't it?" He looks at me and smiles, but it's kind of a sad smile.

"Yeah… We… All of us… We just wanted to protect you from all of this. We each got told once we were done our first post-secondary degree, or diploma in Aquilo's case. So, the summer of the ferry incident, mom had been agonizing over whether or not to tell you… Then once the accident happened, she realized that it would destroy her to lose you and… she decided not to tell you anything." I see him wringing his hands, he's just as nervous as I am… "I'm sorry… We didn't mean it to hurt you at all, but as soon as we heard that Moore had contacted you… We were all worried that he would tell you everything and you would feel betrayed… We… We were worried you might…" He keeps struggling to continue, but his message is already pretty clear.

"Join them?" I finish for him, and his eyes shoot back up to meet mine.

"Yes… We never meant to betray you and—"

"I don't feel betrayed." I reach forward and put my hand on his two, my sleeve creeping up to reveal the edges of my scars, "I mean… I maybe did for about forty seconds or so… Immediately after Emmett told me… But then, he told me that you had all kept it a secret to protect me…" Lean back again and look at my own hands, "But how could I get mad about that? Especially since it's exactly what I've done… To protect all of you."

"Protect us? From what?" I scoff a little and it turns into a bit of a dry laugh.

"Ironically… All of this. The war between the Templars and Assassins… The truth… About what happened after I fell off the ferry that day. And…" I squeeze my hands together in my lap, "And who… Or rather… _What_ I've become." I feel a hand on my shoulder, and I look over to see Emmett looking at me seriously before smiling.

"I swear. I need to make you a 'what would Yusuf say?' bracelet or something. It's just 'who,' not 'what.' You are just as human as anyone." He sits back in his chair.

"You've told Emmett already?" Zeph asks me, but Emmett answers.

"Well… When someone I expected to be barely competent enough to defend herself makes it possible for us to escape a full blown Abstergo raid… I basically forced an explanation. And… Not gonna lie, man… It's long and it's deep. I don't think we have enough flight time to cover it all…"

"Considering that you don't even have it all 'covered,' no." I add. Emmett just shrugs.

"Well… I'd say just cover the big stuff, but it all sounds pretty… Big." Zeph says.

"You're not wrong…" I admit, "Well… First off, you guys were probably right… The me before the ferry incident would _not_ have handled all of this very well. I likely would've been some level of catatonic for a while."

"While I'm glad to hear that… I think. What exactly do you mean?" Zeph asks.

"All the scars you saw last time?" He nods, "Some of them are well over a thousand years old." Zeph slumps back in his seat his mouth slightly open in disbelief.

We only end up having time for an extremely basic rundown of everything before we are landing at a small airstrip outside of a town that Silvija calls Bitola. Apparently, this trip was mostly paid for by a wealthy antiquities dealer who had purchased a lot of pieces from an estate sale in Bucharest and hired Silvija to bring them to him.

After I say goodbye to Silvija, we all pile into a small car and Zeph drives us away.

It doesn't take long for us to get to a building that he pulls in behind of where the dark is pretty complete.

"Woah… I never noticed your eyes do that before…" Emmett says as we step out of the car into the darkness between a few tall, old buildings, "Can you see in the dark?" He gets right up in my face moving left to right to see the sheen of my eyes, not unlike the glow of a cat's eyes in the dark, but definitely less pronounced… Thankfully.

"Yeah, pretty well actually."

"It's not like you can't use Eagle Vision, Emmett. Now let's get inside mom and Aquilo should be there." Zeph remarks.

"In other words… 'Prepare yourself…'" I say to Zephyr's back.

"Yes… Mom has been beside herself not being able to contact you. Although, she approved highly of Emmett's thought to put your phone on a bus going way north of you."

"Actually… That was her idea." Emmett says and Zeph stops for a second before continuing.

"That… Actually makes more sense. Even if it were soft Raea." Zephyr says thoughtfully.

"Ouch. That hurts, Zeph… That's hurtful." Emmett slumps a little as we enter the building.

"I'm back!" Zeph shouts to the space. This is followed by stomping on the floor above us as a couple of people come down to greet us, first mom then slightly behind her is Aquilo.

She flies past Zephyr and pulls me into a tight squeeze.

"I was so worried about you! When I first heard Emmett's report that there had been at least a dozen agents that raided your building… I just didn't even know what to think. I can't believe that Atreus would do something like that…"

"Honestly, I think he was trying to take advantage of the fact that we never told her anything about the Assassins and Templars… I think he probably was banking on Raea feeling betrayed enough to go to him; the one who told her the truth." Zephyr says as he comes over and wraps his arms around both of us. Once he releases us Aquilo comes over and gives me a quick hug.

"Do you? Feel betrayed by us, I mean. I wouldn't blame you." Aquilo steps back a little, I grab his hand to stop him from backing away and look between him and mom.

"No. I don't feel betrayed. I felt a little hurt to begin with, but I understand why you did it… And honestly, you were right to do it." I answer him as carefully as I can.

While his face is similar to Zeph's I can always see the differences. And of course with how Aquilo has always preferred his hair shoulder length in contrast to Zeph's locks that reach his ears at best. How his eyes are a soft, comforting storm grey compared to Zeph's piercing slate grey. And Aquilo has always prided himself on his ability to retain muscle. Therefore, where Zephyr has a leaner muscled look to him, Aquilo often looks like a gym junkie. But they do stand at the same six-foot height, giving them at least a head over all but Emmett.

"Well… That isn't what I was expecting… But I'm beyond thrilled to hear you say that…" My mom wipes her eyes a little bit while commenting on my reaction.

How long can I go without telling them before this becomes a betrayal on my part?

"Mom, are you sure you're an Assassin?" Aquilo nudges her with his elbow.

"Oh hush. Now you all go get something to eat, while I send a quick note out to Bill. He'll be glad to hear the good news." Emmett's stomach growls loud enough for the whole entrance to hear and we all laugh into the dining room.

"You mean that his last niece is now entering the fold? Shouldn't' you tell dad first? I mean if you tell _Uncle_ Bill, he is definitely going to tell dad… They are brothers after all. Even if it's only half brothers." Aquilo jokes. _And now I have another uncle too? Who is apparently also an Assassin._ Mom makes a face at him before she hustles down the hall and into a room at the end as we go about halfway down the hall into a small kitchen and dining space.

We eat together for a while and then drink a little wine, the entire moment the truth weighing in the back of my mind… I know I have to tell them, but I just want to stay like this a little longer.

"I can't believe you didn't want to use that Animus! Man… I was all over that when they first told me! Running over the rooftops of Renaissance Italy was a thrill!" Aquilo takes another swig of his wine.

"I admit… Renaissance Italy was cool, but I really liked the set of memories in Istanbul… Man, those Assassins had the rooftop travel really figured out with those hook blades." Zephyr counters.

 _You have_ no _idea._ I begin drown the thought with the rest of my glass of wine.

"Yeah, it's still hard to believe that we're related to one of the most famous Assassins… Ezio Auditore." A fountain of wine spews from my mouth and all over Emmett, and I am left in a coughing fit.

"Raea? Are you okay?" Zephyr asks putting a hand on my back.

"Yep!" _Cough, cough,_ "Peachy…" Sweet Jesus… I'm related to Ezio… Now _that_ is going to be an awkward conversation.

"You do know that wine isn't for breathing, right?" Emmett jokes and I just narrow my watering eyes at him.

"Emmett…" I hear him sharply breathe in as my mom begins to ask him a question, "Did you _not_ tell her that she is related to some of the most famous Assassins?"

"Well… I… Uh… No. No, I did not…" He grabs a napkin from the table and wipes his face off.

"It's fine, it's fine…" _Cough_ , "I'm okay…" I croak out… Zephyr leans in really close.

"Did you know him or something?" He whispers in my ear. While everyone else is ragging on Emmett for leaving out that detail.

" _Something_ like that… Yes." He sits back and I look at him. Then as if it all clicks his eyes go wide.

"Wait… Did you…?" He raises his eyebrows. The rest of the table begins to settle down, I give the tiniest nod and look back at Zeph whose expression is growing to look more mortified than over any of the other things I've said so far…

"Well… I'm pretty tired… I'm going to go get some rest…" I announce to the table.

"Hey, if you're not going to use the Animus, you should let one of us get you up to speed on some self-defence moves at least… I'll get you started in the morning." Aquilo volunteers before I can even object, then mom weighs in.

"I agree, I think all of you should help her out tomorrow while I'm out with the rest of the team at the site." She stands up, "I'll take up to where you'll be sleeping." She leads me out of the room, where Aquilo is looking excited to train me, while Zephyr and Emmett have gotten a couple of shades paler.

"I know that the quarters here aren't exactly glamourous, but they'll do the job…" She says as we climb a few flights of stairs, "There are a whole bunch of us all working on the site in the mountains nearby, most of this block is all Assassin occupied for the time being. It was once a hide out for rebels while this area was Nazi occupied during World War II… It had been a whole bunch of the neighbours who had agreed to help each other save fleeing Jews. So the basements of five of the nearby buildings are connected and there are six tunnels that lead in varying directions away, in case of emergencies. Naturally, that makes it perfect for us. The basements have all be equipped with tech being hidden underground and the tunnels make for the perfect fall back if the Templars find us. There are six buildings we are occupying here and one person out of each building has the location of one safe house in the vicinity should it become needed. Having only one person know each safehouse can be risky, but that way if a safehouse's location is compromised…"

"There are less places to point fingers." I finish, and she looks at me as she opens a door to a modest room with a small bed and my bag on top. The window looking out into what appears to be a small courtyard.

"Yes. This building is only being used by our family and Emmett. The person with the location at this building is Aquilo. So if something happens find him first. He'll protect you." If only I could have told her why that isn't necessary…

_How long can I go without saying anything before it becomes a betrayal on my part?_

"Alright… I'm really tired, and have a lot to process still… So, I'm going to sleep now. Night mom." I say instead of what I maybe should say.

"Goodnight, my dear Raea." She puts her hand on my cheek, "I'm glad I don't have to keep secrets from you anymore…" The comment jabs me like an arrow to the heart, "But I'm afraid for you now… This is not a vacation, please be careful."

"I will mom… I'll see you tomorrow sometime."

"Absolutely, I'll be leaving early to work on the dig site, but your brothers will be around, along with a few of the more technologically inclined of our group. I love you."

"Love you too, mom." Then she walks down the hall and into one of the other rooms, and I close the door. I sit down on the bed and fish out the old hidden blade, and then I just lay on the bed in the dark… Holding the hidden blade while all my worries surface and pester me all night long.


	15. Bouts and Blunders

**Here is part 2 of the New Year's double update!**

* * *

_How long before this becomes a betrayal on my part?_

The question that has been buzzing around in my mind all night long returns to the forefront of my thoughts.

"Come on! We've got something to show you." Aquilo practically drags me to the stairs that lead to the basement.

At first all it is, is a regular cellar. Shelves that probably once held jars of preserved foods and racks that likely held wine with how close we are to Greece here. Then we turn into a smaller room and he smiles before simply pressing a specific brick near the edge of the wall about six inches away from the floor. Then the whole wall clicks and pops forward.

"Before we got these buildings the entrances were small crawl tunnels into a central area. The Assassins carefully excavated out the middle area some more and put in more hidden entrances. So even if Abstergo gets to one or two of the buildings, they'll still have to find out where the entrances are to this space." We walk a little further to where there is an Animus set up and a few other desks around with computers and wires everywhere, "Since we're under a whole bunch of buildings we can make it so the power draw to the block doesn't seem strange for how many buildings are on top of this space."

"Yeah, as long as we don't have absolutely everything, always powered on Mr. Forgetful." A woman pops up from behind the Animus and pats it, "It's too bad you're not interested in taking a ride in her. I just updated the software, and she should run like new."

"This is Rebecca Crane, and her accomplice is around here somewhere." Aquilo says looking around a stack of computer equipment.

"If anything, she's the accomplice." A male voice comes from behind the stack of computer equipment, "Now if you don't mind, _some_ of us are actually working on figuring out the site."

"That's Shaun, he's nice once you get to know him." Rebecca jokes as she goes to the computer hooked up to the Animus.

"No, I am not." The voice says again from behind the computers. Aquilo just smiles wickedly, knowing that he is the one who incited this.

"Anyway, Lio. Emmett and I got you all set up… Emmett thought of a good sequence to show our new friend here. Nothing too exciting and you've already done it before so there shouldn't be any kind of desync issues. Now get settled." She points to the Animus chair.

"And we set up a bigger monitor over here…" Emmett says as he comes from behind a shelf and beckons me over. We walk over to where are just behind Rebecca's computer where she is controlling the Animus.

"Don't feel like you have to say yes to going in after this, I know some people just really aren't cut out for using the Animus. But it's good to finally meet you, Astraea, I hear a lot about you from all your siblings." Rebecca holds her hand out to me and I shake it.

"I bet you do… I'm sure you'll be glad to hear that the first time I heard of you was on the trip here." I reply to her comment.

"You got that right, but at the same time… I wouldn't have minded being talked about at little bit I suppose." She rubs her chin in thought for a moment until Lio calls from the other side.

"All set over here."

"Awesome, dropping you in then… Three, two, one…" Then Rebecca presses a button, and a feed appears on the screen, which boasts the back view of a very distinctive man in an unending abstract landscape. I narrow my eyes, noting that the outfit he is wearing looks familiar. "Alright, looking good… We're starting you when he gets off the boat." Getting off the boat?

Then the world of memories comes to life on the screen and we are taken to the docks of Galata in the early 1600s. I would recognize that scenery anywhere. We aren't seeing from a first-person perspective, but rather as what is going on around. The view comes around to show an aged Ezio reading a book.

"This was a good choice, Rebecca…" Zeph says from next to me.

"Couldn't have picked this one without Emmett's help." She tilts past the edge of her screen to look at Emmett, Zephyr, and I sitting on the little sofa they had brought over, and she grins.

Ezio begins conversation with a young man, Ezio didn't realize who he was even talking to at the time… He looks so young there… Sulieman, the son of the man who would become Sultan. Although, if I remember right this is the point where the succession had been in question for a time. And the rising Byzantines didn't help the situation any…

Then a lovely red-haired woman goes by, distracting Ezio. And rightfully so. If only he knew who had just gone by him, but the future mother of his children… And apparent branch point of my own existence.

At this point, I would have been wandering around in the hideout looking for an absent Yusuf… Who had come to the docks to greet Ezio.

Then there he is… On the screen in front of me, looking exactly as he did the last time I saw him.

My Light. My Yusuf.

He surprises the unsuspecting Ezio by grabbing his shoulder and immediately going into a welcome… That is just _so_ Yusuf… Not even giving a new person a second to breath. I have to bite my lip to keep it from giving away my emotions.

"My Light…" I whisper to myself.

"Hoshgeldin kardeshim! Unless the legend is a lie, you are the man I long to meet."

I remember him once going over what he would say to the Great Ezio Auditore if he ever met him… And this is the single one that I thought was simply too much… But this also explains why he never told me how he greeted Ezio.

"Renowned master and mentor, Ezio Auditore de… la la la!"

He finishes the sentence with a flourish of his hand.

And I can't stop my hand from going over my face and rubbing my brow. _I cannot believe he greeted Ezio like that…_

It goes into Ezio explaining the phrase and Yusuf then using it to introduce himself. His charisma was unlike Ezio's and unique in a way that naturally drew people to him. I can feel my heart pounding. This is the closest I've gotten to seeing his face in front of me, besides my drawings, in five hundred years.

They then begin to make they're way to the Assassin's Headquarters, only to be ambushed by some Byzantines. The pair dispatch the group easily, but more rush in once they walk a little further. But the Janissaries of the Ottomans intercept them and attack the Byzantines.

Then before long they arrive at the hideout, my eyes immediately go to the top of the stairs and see the shadow rush over to the armoury. Then Yusuf and Ezio join a few of the Assassins at the table where Yusuf introduces Ezio, then from behind, I walk over to Yusuf my left hand visible for only a moment as I finish securing the hood around my face.

I miss that outfit… The dark emerald green brocade using black and gold for accents on the sash… The way those robes always felt so right when I wore them.

Then I stand at the end of the table, the ends of some of my blonde curls peeking out between the mask and hood. When Yusuf announces that they had been ambushed I see me place my left hand on his right arm and his left hand, bearing the match to my ring, covers my hand briefly.

"Wait, Rebecca… Are you sure this is right?" Aquilo's voice comes over the feed and the image begins to tear at the edges and seems to unravel before our eyes.

"Hold on Aquilo…" Rebecca stands up after rapping on the keys for a few minutes. We all stand and go over to the Animus chair where Rebecca is giving Aquilo a glass of water.

"That's not how I remember that sequence. I don't remember that woman being there." Aquilo says putting a hand to his temple.

_Uh… What?_

"Yeah… I seem to remember it without her as well…" Rebecca agrees.

"I've done that sequence as well, and I have no recollection of her being there either." Zeph says as well, and I can't stop my jaw from dropping open.

_Did I get erased?_

"Hmm… Well this isn't the first time that memories have been altered by the ancestor…" Is she saying Ezio purposefully withheld my existence from his genetic memories? Is that even possible? "Often a change in the person viewing the memories can trigger the change… But you've already gone through this sequence before when we were looking for details that may have been missed when Desmond went through these memories while he was stuck in the Animus and we couldn't save the memories." Rebecca adds.

Thinking back I did ask Ezio to never tell anyone about me… Could that have affected how his memories were stored in the genes of my family? Perhaps until exposure to me as I currently am caused the memory to surface as it happened?

Then… Could it be encountering me now, as I am, has changed the genetic memory?

"In any case, I'm going to go through and sort these all out again, then we should probably go through to look for other inconsistencies." Rebecca finally says, sitting back down in her chair.

"Alright, let me know once all of it is ready to go… I'm curious about that woman… Why wasn't she there before?" Aquilo scratches his chin.

"Yeah, this is great! I'll look for more memories with her and see what I find. If I come across one that's too jumbled, I'll call you up to work through it." Rebecca replies, she certainly sounds enthusiastic about all this.

"Well… That didn't go as planned… I was hoping to get you excited to play around in the past to get some Bleeding Effect skills, but I guess that whole thing probably turned you off of using the Animus for ever, huh?" Aquilo comments, I clasp my hands to hide the ring on my ring finger.

"Yeah… I think I'll still pass on the whole Animus business… Thanks for trying though, I appreciate the thought. All of you." I look at Zeph and Emmett and they both smile a little.

We all go upstairs again and into the kitchen where we all pour a drink for ourselves. With me being sure to hold my iced tea with my left hand so I can keep the ring out of sight.

"Desynchronizing can be seriously rough… I've gotten so used to the Animus that I don't usually desync anymore. I didn't think that memories could change like that though… I wonder who she was…" I take a deep swig of iced tea and I see Zeph bring a cup to his mouth as well, "Hey, you're Yusuf's descendant, yeah? What do you think about her?" He gestures his cup at Emmett before taking a drink.

"Well… I've only seen the memories of his son while he was in Istanbul… And the Assassins there did mention him having a wife." Emmett reports.

Zeph spews his coffee all over the kitchen floor and Emmett. Aquilo managed to dodge the worst of it but his socks are definitely not dry now. I take another deep drink of iced tea until my glass is empty, then I just hold the glass up to avoid Zeph's looks.

"Dude. Not cool. Did you try to breathe the coffee or something? You know that's not how it works, right?" Emmett looks himself up and down, "Now I have two outfits that need cleaning from spewed drinks…"

"Gee… Thanks… I… Hadn't realized. And… Sorry." Zeph chokes out between coughs caused by coffee inhalation.

"Well, since we couldn't get you in the Animus, how about we do some of that self-defence recap that mom requested for you? It probably won't be a bad idea to go over a few things that are a little different when confronting Abstergo agents." While he's not wrong, I don't think I need to train more.

"Alright, I'll take her up so she can get changed quick, we'll meet you guys over at the studio building." Zephyr volunteers after drinking an entire glass of water. He then leads me to the stairs and then we start the trek up.

Yikes… I'm about to get a talking to.

"You left out that little detail, didn't you?"

"Hey, it wasn't a very long flight…"

"And you, what? Didn't feel like telling me that the fancy ring on your finger there was your wedding band?" His voice had started to rise but he capped it and returned to harsh whispers as we get to my room.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I'm sorry that in all the details that I told you, that weren't very many by the way, that an _almost_ marriage that ended five hundred years ago, wasn't as big a detail to me as me worrying about how you might see me at the end of all the talking. I'm not exactly the sweet, innocent, squishy little sister you remember." I close the door a ways so I can change into the closest I have to workout clothes making sure that I have a long sleeve, crew-neck shirt to cover all of me.

"Okay… I see your point…" Zeph says as I open the door to come again, "I guess, I was surprised is all… I hadn't really thought of you having had that kind of a relationship before. Or ever, really. You had never been interested in that. So when it hit me that you've had it and it's been over for so long, I guess it kind of hit home what really happened."

"There's still a lot I have to tell you. And honestly. Most of it isn't exactly sunshine and rainbows." I start walking down the stairs behind Zeph, "Yusuf was, without a doubt, the brightest most amazing gift that I received through my years. He had been the light that brought me out of a long dark night. But… It still hurts to think about how quickly he was taken from me."

"So when you whispered… 'my light' earlier…" He stops at the bottom of the stairs as I come to the bottom behind him. He turns around and pulls me into a bear hug, "I'm sorry… That must have been painful…"

I stand frozen for a second as I process what he said.

Then my arms reach around him, and I hug him tightly back. My brother is so kind.

"It was… But… On his wishes, I can't let it stop me from moving forward. I can't let it stop me from living." He releases me and smiles at me.

"From the memories Ezio had of him, when I went through them, Yusuf seemed very… Jovial."

"That's an understatement. He had this way of making the most mundane thing seem fun. And he cared so much about his Brotherhood and his city. Anyway, where are we going now?"

He is leading me back into the basement, but there seems to be a new door down here from earlier.

"At the bottom of one of the buildings there is a space that had been converted to a pilates studio in the late eighties. We've been using it to train while we're in this city. So that's where we're going… For your 'training'…" Zephyr snickers a little.

"Don't be mean… Aquilo doesn't know yet. And I'm not really sure how to approach it with him."

"Honestly? I think this is a great opportunity to tell him… Or rather _show_ him. Because I don't think he's going to buy it. His pride might get a little bruised though." Zephyr suggests at how I might get Aquilo to believe me.

"You really think this is the best way to go about this?" I ask skeptically.

"Yeah, actually. This will at least get him to listen. He remembers the last 'sparring' match you had with him, the one where he called your muscles soft, and he has been planning on how to help you improve since it was decided you'd come here."

"Awe… I almost want to just let him beat me and teach me if he's thought about it that much… Is that mean?"

"Maybe a little patronizing…" Zephyr shrugs a little bit, "But not mean…"

"Hmmm… I'll think about it… Quickly." I add as we climb the stairs into a hallway, the hall leading to a large open space that definitely screams eighties pilates studio.

Aquilo and Emmett are chatting at one end, with Aquilo having taken off his over shirt to show off that he's gotten even more muscular since I last saw him.

"Are you ready to learn some Assassin fighting from me?" He walks to us at the edge of the room, "Aren't you going to get a little warm in that? And… Wow. I didn't really realize how much you've changed over the last couple of years… Congrats, little sis! I knew you could do it." He smacks my shoulder.

"Thanks, Lio." I straighten out the long-sleeved yoga shirt that I would normally wear underneath a sweater, "Did you get even _more_ muscle since last time?" He beams with pride.

"I sure did." He grins wider.

"But he still has a ways to go if he wants to compete with Arend." Zeph quips.

"Shhh… Just let our sister compliment me. I never did ask; do you guys want to help out?" Aquilo directs at both Emmett and Zeph.

"Nah…" Zeph answers.

"Nope. I'm good." Emmett says almost too abruptly at the same time. Aquilo shrugs and turns to go to the middle of the room while Zephyr and Emmett start moving to the side of the room.

"Just us, I guess… Anyway, mom said I should first cover a few things that could help you get away from Abstergo agents. Although, I guess you probably already saw some at your place before, huh?"

"Oh, she _definitely_ saw them." Emmett pipes up as he passes me, and I elbow him as he goes by.

"Well… At least with some tips maybe she could avoid it going that far next time… Especially if the whole hiding in plain sight doesn't work out and all…" Aquilo counters. I have to make my decision… Soon. I feel bad, Lio is being so genuine about wanting to help me, his little sister…

_I'm afraid._

What if he doesn't see me as his little his after this?

What if, unlike Emmett and Zeph, he sees me as I truly am? A monster…

An un-aging, unchanging monster.

And…

If I don't tell him, could it be considered a betrayal?

I go over to the side of the room while Aquilo begins a quick demonstration.

I see him demonstrate a few disarming techniques that _would_ be effective and easy to learn for someone who knew some martial arts… He's being so thoughtful. I don't want to hurt him. He may put up the tough-guy front, but he is caring towards anyone he brings into his circle. And he is more sensitive than he lets on.

I feel a hand on my shoulder. I look over to see Zephyr smile encouragingly and nod. He leans in a little.

"Relax. Have a little fun with it. Trust that he can handle the truth because I know he can." Zephyr whispers before giving me a little push.

"Did you see all of it? I can show you again if you want." Aquilo offers.

"No, I think I caught all of that… Similar to some of the stuff from my martial arts training…"

"Well, that makes sense since you learnt most of your martial arts from Assassins." Aquilo states.

 _Of course I did…_ This reminds me that they did in fact keep an especially large secret from me for an awfully long time. I guess I am still a little salty over it.

"It went something like this, right?" Knowing exactly what he did makes it quite easy for me to repeat it perfectly, right down to the footwork. When I finish, I look over at him wearing an expression of pure shock.

"Alright, well… Obviously you know that one already… Hmm… Let's try this."

He demonstrates another relatively simple move to knock someone down, and temporarily cripple them. Once he finishes, he steps aside and gives a wave for me to try it. And yet again, I make a completely flawless copy of what he did. He narrows his eyes.

"Did you guys already train her on these or something? Are you playing with me here?" Aquilo looks at them past me, the both of them struggling to hold in laughter.

"I am maybe playing a little." I answer, "But there's nothing they could teach me that I don't already know." I shrug.

"Ouch." Emmett replies.

"Hey, I'm not the one that let five of them go unnoticed by my Eagle Vision, am I?" I look over at Emmett crossing my arms.

"Oof… Burn." Zephyr says looking over at Emmett, "Five? Really?" Emmett just sadly nods a little.

"Okay… Hold on? What's the deal? Are you all acting or something? Who's got the camera?" Aquilo eyes the two onlookers his arms crossing in front of him.

"OH MAN! That's a great idea!" Emmett shouts as he whips out a phone to capture the moments to come, and Aquilo just put his hands up in confusion.

"Alright, whatever… Anyway, if you think you're so skilled, why don't we just get straight to the sparring then? We both know who won last time." Aquilo loses his cool for a moment. And while I know he is only saying it out of impatience, I take the bait and offer up some of my own.

"Yeah… The one with more experience won last time." I gesture to the middle of the room and set myself just opposite him.

"Okay but promise you won't back down after you get knocked down once or twice." He gets into his ready position, and I assume my own out of courtesy. He straightens a little, "You're really sure about this?"

"Completely positive."

"Okay…" He launches at me and throws a few punches coupled with one or two dramatic kicks. The trajectory he gave them wouldn't have even made contact with me, but I dodge each strike, and as he pulls back his fist and feet from each blow, I tap his wrists and ankles. After the first barrage he hops back looking incredibly confused. I see him look at Emmett and Zephyr behind me again, the pair just motioning him to keep going, and he narrows his eyes.

This time he launches himself much faster and increases the speed of all his throws, and this time he aims true. His blows would have made contact this time. But again, I deftly dodge them all, gently tapping each time to him know that not only did I have time to dodge but I also had a chance to strike back. He feints backwards after the five failed strikes and stands upright.

"Alright, I give… What's the deal? Did you already use the Animus for training? Are you experiencing the Bleeding Effect?" Aquilo asks, I can hear the concern in his voice.

"I wish it were that simple… But is this you giving up? We can call it quits if you want…" I offer, to which I see him grimace at.

"No. I want to see how far you can go." He decides as he launches himself again, much faster this time.

"You're on." I say as he gets to me.

I exchange blows with him this time, tempering my own to keep him from getting injured at all. At one point he grabs my fist and I let him spin me around and he puts me in a hold around my neck

"Aquilo…" I almost whisper it.

"What?" Concern colouring his voice again, as he loosens the hold a little.

"I'm afraid…"

"We can always call it quits," He wisecracks using my own words; I can hear the grin in his voice.

"Not of what you might think… I'm afraid that at the end of this, you won't see me as your sister anymore." I grab his arm and spin him back around in front of me, hooking my leg behind his, and tipping him backwards. About halfway through the maneuver I could feel him try to resist against my strength. I hold onto his fist stopping him from hitting the floor too hard before letting him fall the final two inches. Then I hop back a little.

He swings his legs around to bring himself back to his feet and dives back into exchanging blows with me.

"Stop holding back." Aquilo says, now devoid of the previous playfulness.

In response I up the ante a little bit, but still holding back. He is still keeping up well enough, but I can see his stamina beginning to wane.

"Stop. Holding. Back." He bites out between blows. Voice sounding icier than just a minute ago.

My patience begins to grow thin, so I pick up the pace some more. He is beginning to lose focus of my hands as I land blow after blow, his blocking coming up short.

I give a little bit more to my effort and end it with a sweep under his legs before pinning him to the ground. And I let him have a taste of what a true enemy would feel against me.

And he just lays there, his forehead dripping sweat and his chest heaving to catch his breath. I stand up and offer my hand to help him up, he takes it but after he just stares at me.

"You were still holding back, weren't you?" He states, his tone carrying it as less of a question and more of an accusation. I look to his soft, storm grey eyes to see only a cold stare as he appraises me with the calculating precision of an Assassin. The stare hurting me more than all of his strikes combined.

I bite my lip and nod before looking down.

Then he leaves.

He walks right past me without another word.

I try to put a hand on his shoulder, but he flinches away from my outstretched hand. Then he goes out the door to the courtyard.

Then the world is drowned out by the sound of my heart racing faster now than during our bout.

I bring the shaking, outstretched hand back to cover my mouth.

_What have I done?_

A hand touches my shoulder, and I can't help but bolt.

I run.

Through the basement back into first building and up the stairs. I retreat to the space deemed as my own and close the door and sinking to the ground to lean against it.

After a few minutes I find the resolve to move to the bed. I lay on the bed and just breathe for a few minutes staring at the ceiling.

Then I can hear Zeph shouting at Aquilo.

I succeed in not listening until Zeph shouts, "YOU NEED TO TALK TO HER!"

"TALK TO HER? I DON'T EVEN _KNOW_ HER!" I don't hear everything that comes after, but I do make out when Aquilo enunciates the one word I feared hearing from any of them, 'monster.'

_I don't want to hear any more._

Covering my ears, I go out the door and find the way to get further up. I managed to suss out the best way to the roof and go there. I choose the roof that by my memory should be over the basement hosting the underground space that the Animus is in.

There I finally find a little peace. But how long will this last? If Aquilo really feels that way, what will he do? Will he convince Zephyr that I'm a monster? Have I just lost the family I waited thousands of years to regain?

Perhaps it was foolish all this time to hope I could rejoin them…

Perhaps not telling them as soon as the ferry incident had made this a betrayal right from the beginning.

I lay back on the slightly slanted roof and look at the pale blue sky. There are patches of soft looking clouds lazily sailing by, intermittently blocking the sun. I don't know how long I lay there but by the time I'm interrupted the sun has moved closer to the horizon as the day begins to close.

"I thought I might find you up here…" I look over to see Emmett climbing onto the roof, "That didn't go the way Zeph thought it would."

"No kidding…" I look back to the sky as Emmett sits down on the roof next to me, "He called me a monster, didn't he?" Emmett doesn't say anything and that's all the answer I need, "Maybe I should leave here… He won't be able to stand looking at me…" My voice cracks as I say the last words.

"Hey… That won't be necessary, just let Zeph talk to him first…" Emmett says softly.

"I heard them talking plenty. Aquilo thinks I'm a monster. And if he asks me whether I am or not, I won't be lying when I say I think I am. Thousands of years, and all I can think to do now, is run. Run far, far away…"

I hear Emmett take a breath in to say something else, but the sound of shuffling at the window below draws both of our attention, when the person comes over the edge it turns out to be Rebecca.

"Oh, I didn't expect to find anyone up here… This wouldn't happen to have anything to do with the raised voices we could hear, would it?" Rebecca says as she strolls over to us and sits down.

"Maybe…" Emmett answers slowly.

"Sibling feuds? Can't say I didn't expect it. Aquilo can be a pretty high-strung guy. I take it your 'training' didn't go as planned."

"Not exactly, but then my whole month has kind of gone to shit…" I answer, which earns a stark laugh from her.

"I suppose it kind of has, hey? But you get a family reunion out of it, at least, right?"

"Yeah… Not sure if we're all ready for that yet…" She laughs a little more at my comment.

"What family is ever really ready for a reunion after be apart for a long time… I remember how Bill and Desmond were after Desmond woke up from being comatose for a while… It wasn't exactly all fun and games. And you _do_ share genes with them, so I imagine there's got to be some similarities there…"

"Apparently…" I mutter to myself.

"Oh, so I looked into the memories of Ezio's regarding the strange interference Aquilo experienced earlier and I managed to trace it back to one point quite a bit further back in Ezio's life. It also ties in a few other places further down to the point where Ezio's children are born." Rebecca skews into another topic, thankfully. And not thankfully, at the same time… Because I'm fairly sure I remember my first meeting with Ezio… And the couple of times after that… All of which lead up to… Well… What Ezio did when he was that age… With Women. Often.

"Cool, looking forward to seeing why it was all glitchy like that…" Emmett says.

"Hey… Could someone alter someone's existence in their memories inadvertently after making a significant effort to never mention them to anyone?"

"I guess if the person were making a real effort on a regular basis to keep whatever it was a secret, yeah, I've heard of and seen weirder thing happen through the Animus." Rebecca answers.

 _I wonder how she'll react to everything she might end up learning_ … Which, with her working through Ezio's memories to find the beginning of this synchronization issue, is only a matter of time. For Aquilo too… If only I could talk to him about it somehow. But if Aquilo feels the way he does… He probably won't give me a chance to explain… And he probably won't let me keep it secret for long.

My heart aches over it all, Zephyr had been so sure he would be able to handle it that way if I went along, that I did go along with it… But was there a better way to go about it? Aquilo isn't as intuitive as Zeph is so it _would_ have taken more proof for him to believe me. But could I have started a different way to bring it up at first…

But it's too late now to try it a different way… I'll just have to learn from this. Because our dad and Aquilo are remarkably similar in how they handle news. Especially reality altering level news.

I wish I could talk with Yusuf about this… If he didn't have advice, he would at least comfort me in the perfect way. He would been able to handle this so gracefully too… I doubt that Aquilo would've even gotten mad at all.

We follow Rebecca all the way down to the basement of the building I had been using to escape it all for a little while. On the way down I look out a window and spot the small courtyard in the middle of the block that Aquilo had first gone to. It has one decently sized tree and some other bushes with little flowers on them. It reminds me of the tree by Yusuf's grave.

Once we're in the basement we go through a door disguised as a shelf full of canned goods. On the other side we enter with a different view of the underground space. This view affords a look at where Shaun has been beavering away. I see the code on his screen, it's looks like he's working at keeping this place off the grid.

"Hey, Shaun." Rebecca says as she walks by him to her station.

"Rebecca." He says shortly.

"Hi Shaun." Emmett says right after following behind Rebecca.

"Oh, _you're_ back, are you?"

"Always so welcoming." Emmett quips.

"Would you be welcoming to an irritating fly? No? Exactly." Shaun shoots a searing response back at Emmett who winces a little.

"Ouch… Harsh words, my friend." And Emmett goes around the corner to Rebecca's workspace.

I stop and look at the screen of Shaun's workspace, seeing how he's been keeping this place off the grid, I can see a few places where a couple of additions and cuts could improve things. So, as he goes to collect something from the other side of the basement, I go over and make a couple of quick adjustments. But he catches me pressing the enter button.

"Oi, what exactly are you doing? Do you want your goon of an uncle to find us after all the running? Because this machine is keeping us all on the downlow, yeah? You know… Hidden. Like that thing that all you genetically born Assassins are good at." He places his hands over the keyboard ready to undo the changes I had just done, and then he just stops. He stares at the screen before pulling one hand away from the keyboard to trace a few lines of the code on the screen. "How did you do that, then?" I take a deep breath in and hold my hand out to him.

"Shaun, it's nice to meet you. I'm Astraea, but you have kind of met me before as Nychta."

"You? Nychta? Nope. Can't be. I've been…" He trails off as though he's unwilling to go as far as admitting I saved him from detection… More than once.

"Saved? Yes. I did that… More than once if I recall."

"Rebecca? Did you tell her to say that just because you want Nychta to be a woman?" Shaun asks cynically.

"I wouldn't stoop that low… Okay, maybe I would. But no. I did not tell her to say that." Rebecca says from behind her computer screen. Shaun shakes my hand very briefly before going back to examining the code…

"Could it really be?" Shaun says to the screen, "Huh…" He scrutinizes the new code on the screen.

"Come on, Shaun. She _is_ one of Aiden and Aurora's kids… All of which are incredibly talented people. Is it really that surprising that one of them is a computer nerd?" Rebecca stands with her hands on her hips, "Zeph is entry level computer nerd, but it's nice to see one of their kids being savvy enough to have saved this guy's digital ass." She clasp my back before heading back to her workspace.

A sound from the entrance at the other building, causes me to tense right up.

"You said you had figured out where to start with those Ezio memories?" Aquilo's voice fills the basement, and I find myself grateful that Shaun's workspace cannot be seen from the Animus' location in the basement.

"Yeah, I found the first trace of the weird signal in his memories in Venice. There are a few other points that I've singled out, including a number of memories surrounding Ezio's time in Istanbul. Are you ready to go in? It sounded like things got a little heated up there…" Rebecca asks him.

"It'll be fine." Aquilo says curtly, "I need the time in the Animus to sort a few things out anyway."

"If you say so, Lio." Rebecca answers, "Alright, are you ready?"

"As I'll ever be." He answers abruptly.

"Okay, three, two, one…" I hear her press a few more buttons and I hear Aquilo breath in quickly before his breath evens out.

"Alright, you should be okay to come over and watch a little if you want… He can only hear me when I talk through the com-link now." I walk around to see Aquilo laying the Animus' chair and I bite my lip guiltily. I feel like I'm only making things worse with him with every decision I make. I don't know how I can possibly get through to him…

Zeph had just come into the space as Aquilo had entered the Animus and he goes over to the couch where we had been sitting before. He and Emmett both beckon me over to the couch near the bigger screen to watch the memory as it comes to life before us.

I recognize the street as soon as it materializes before us, with Ezio walking along the through the crowds at a brisk pace weaving around slower people. Then just as out of nowhere for him as it was for me, a woman comes from a side road and the two collide. Quite spectacularly too.

He looks so young… Barely past thirty at this point but he had already accomplished so much.

I know he had many adventures in Venice, and I believe he actually saves one Christopher Columbus after he finishes securing the last of Leonardo's move to the Auditore Villa in Monteriggioni.

I had been in Venice for a little while earlier on and had happened upon Leonardo while he was drawing. And of course recognizing him for who he was, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to talk to him. It had been some years later that he had left Venice for a little while and then when he came back it had only been to pack up his workshop to leave Venice altogether.

But for me… This was a dark period of my life. Everything seemed lackluster and dull. I often had been looking for ways to bring light back into my life. But nothing ever felt… Alive. Except my time with Leonardo.

I watch as Ezio apologizes to that me, before being distracted by my appearance as he often was around women. I also apologize to him and bow a little before going on my way. We don't get to see much besides my eyes at that point since I had been wearing a deeply hooded dark green cloak with the hood up and hiding most of my face and it had only gone slightly askew after colliding with Ezio.

But seeing my eyes was enough for me.

"I… I can't watch this." I stand up and Emmett reaches for my shoulder lightly.

"What's wrong?" He asks.

"I remember what I was like then. The whole world was monotone to me. A lackluster collection of faces and places. The only thing that had begun to bring the tiniest amount of light back into my life had been making art with Leonardo." I lean in and whisper to him.

"Da Vinci?" He asks, eyes practically popping out of his head.

"Yes, da Vinci. And right there? That's minutes after I found out that he would be leaving Venice, probably for good. That woman? She isn't me. _She_ is dead inside." My words, though soft in volume, strike him enough that he lets go and I leave to head back up the stairs and out the door to go find something to draw.


	16. A Time to Remember

_Aquilo POV_

Aquilo did not miss how distract Ezio would always get by women. Mainly because it is something he's never been able to relate to Ezio on. So the sudden collision between him and that strange, cloaked woman causing him to lose his train of thought on getting to Leonardo's is just confusing to Aquilo.

But Aquilo has grown accustomed to the way you have to sort of give up the driver's seat when in a memory, or you'll desynch. And _that_ is never fun. More often than not it involves throwing up whatever your last meal was and not wanting to go back to the Animus for at least the rest of the day… But after everything that happened in the studio upstairs…

Everything glitches as he nears desynching from the sheer thought of what happened earlier. He pushes it from his mind.

 _Woah… Are you alright, bud? You never lose synch like that…_ Rebecca says over the com-link to Aquilo.

"It's alright." Aquilo assures Rebecca.

_If you say so… It looks like you need to continue to Leonardo's place to secure the rest of his things._

"Okay," Aquilo says as Ezio turns to continue down the street and turning to go to Leonardo's workshop where the pair will secure Leonardo's traveling to the Auditore Villa.

According to what Rebecca and Shaun put into the info that Aquilo had briefly skimmed while waiting in the Memory Corridor, Ezio continues after these memories to save Christopher Columbus and then travels to Spain to aid the Assassins there.

Ezio enters Leonardo's workshop and looks around briefly.

"Leonardo?"

"Ah, Ezio? Is that you?" Then none other than Leonardo da Vinci comes from behind a stack of paintings.

"Are these _all_ traveling to the Villa?"

"Ah, yes. Couldn't bear to leave them behind." Leonardo gestures to his works. Both Aquilo and Ezio note how he seems to treat his works as people more than paintings.

"So Leonardo, are you ready to go?"

"Ah, yes… Hmm... About that…"

"Leonardo…" Ezio sighs.

"I have reconnected with a friend and I _may_ have promised to stay until just after the Carnevale."

"Leonardo…" Ezio repeats.

"I just couldn't say no, she is very persuasive."

"She?"

"Ah, yes. I've been drawing her lately. And helping her draw too. Exceptionally talented. Skill is there too, if a little unrefined. Although today she left early… I was hoping you could meet her, but she left very suddenly." Leonardo speaks more eccentrically than Aquilo had first imagined, but after going through the highlights of Ezio's memories the first time, there's no other way Aquilo could picture him now. Although, Aquilo and Ezio both couldn't ever remember hearing about Leonardo having a specific friend who was a woman and an artist of enough talent that Leonardo gave her praise like that. And if there had been Ezio would certainly remember, at least Aquilo thought so.

"I cannot recall you mentioning any lady artist friends around here the last time I saw you. You must have been fast friends indeed."

"I've known her since some years after arriving in Venezia. But, yes, she spotted me drawing then and asked if I would mind if she joined me drawing the city. She is very clever… If a little…"

"A little what?" After a long pause of Leonardo searching for the word Ezio prods.

"Sad, I suppose. She seems to hide it well, but underneath everything she seems sad. Or perhaps empty? And it comes through in her drawings. She often uses charcoal darker than I've ever seen someone use before. Say… I am a little worried about her, having left in such a hurry… Would you mind tracking her down to check on her for me?"

"I can never refuse a favour from you, my friend." Ezio promises.

"Excellent. She really favours drawing by the Palazzo Ducale and near some of the trees that look over the water. I imagine you would be most likely to find her near one of those places. Her name is Neoma and I believe she was wearing green today..."

"Grazie." Ezio leaves Leonardo sorting through some more of his paintings. He said thank you but Aquilo can tell that Ezio would've liked more to go off of.

While Ezio walks along to the Palazzo, Aquilo decides to brainstorm.

"Hey, Rebecca… How do you think this is connected to that woman in Istanbul? The woman there… She seemed quite young, but if this woman were the same woman… Wouldn't that make her quite a bit older by the time Ezio is in Istanbul?"

 _You're right, there does seem to be a strange time gap…_ Rebecca agrees, _I guess we just have to wait and see how it all unfolds. Desmond once said that, while trapped in the Animus, Clay had described that these memories often work by what an ancestor wants to show you. So I guess we just have to find out what Ezio want to show us._

"I guess so…"

When Ezio arrives at the Palazzo however there is no sign of any woman drawing and, or, wearing green, so Ezio uses his Eagle Sense to try finding some clues to what he is searching for, but again, nothing.

Then it becomes a task of footwork and Ezio walks around, occasionally using Eagle Sense to see if he can spot any clues or perhaps the woman.

Then finally, after hours of walking until the sun is almost setting, he spots the glow of what he is looking for… Only instead of around or near the tree… She is up the tree. And as Ezio nears he spots that she is in pants instead of a dress like most women would wear, but pants are the better option for climbing a tree. And just as Leonardo said… She is in fact in green. Her hooded cloak is a deep forest green.

"You must be this Neoma that Leonardo told me about." Ezio had approached quietly and when he speaks the tree rustles a little bit.

"You're a friend of Leonardo?"

"Yes, we've known each other a long time. I'm actually in the midst of helping him organize his move to my family's estate. You worried him earlier by leaving so suddenly."

"Oh… I didn't mean to. I guess I just got a little flustered by hearing him say that he would be leaving… So I asked him to stay at least to Carnevale, but I… I regret that. I shouldn't make him stay longer than he wants to. I'm already beyond lucky that he has called me his friend." Ezio's thoughts linger on how her Italian sounds a little strange but he has met many people from many places already, so it doesn't bother him much.

"Really? He told me he was planning to stay until the Carnevale anyway." Ezio informs the woman.

"Oh… I hadn't listened that far… Oh, what a mess…" The woman gracefully dismounts the tree, and her hood falls over her head. Ezio notes how fine her clothing looks for someone speaking Italian that sounds less refined, but it is only a passing thought.

"I suppose if you're helping Leonardo get ready to move, we will probably see a lot of each other…"

"I suppose you are correct," Aquilo notes that Ezio turns on the suave voice, "My name is Ezio Auditore da Firenze." He flourishes into a little bow, his cape swishing aside.

"My name is Neoma… It's a pleasure to meet you, Ezio." As Ezio comes out of the bow, Neoma lowers her hood to reveal her face. While Ezio's thoughts linger on how her green eyes look dull and lifeless, Aquilo's thoughts race over what he is seeing before him.

A face that Aquilo knows all too well.

"Astraea?" Aquilo says to himself, before the whole memory collapses around him.

In the Memory Corridor he talks to Rebecca.

"There's no way that's Astraea, right?" He paces in the endless space of the Corridor, "She looks _just_ like Astraea though. That's unbelievable."

 _Hey, Lio?_ Zeph's voice comes through the link into the Corridor, _you need to finish out these memories. I think that it will really help you understand something…_

"And that would be _what_ exactly, Zeph?" Aquilo's temper over the spat earlier hasn't settles down yet and he can't help the snappy tone his words carry.

_I think it's a good idea too. For all we know about any of it, your sister could be something like the Sages. Born as a human with a DNA link to an Isu._

"Alright, lets finish these memories up then… I want to get it over with."

 _Remember not to stay too long in there._ Rebecca uselessly reminds him.

"Then let's finish them quickly."

_Launching the next memory, three, two, one…_

"Leonardo said I might find you here today." Ezio approaches Neoma as she sits on the grass near a lone tree near the edge of the city overlooking the water to another section of the city.

"Ah, Ezio… I didn't expect to see you, I have already been to Leonardo's today for drawing, but I saw the way the sun is on the buildings across the water and couldn't help but stop to draw them. I'm profoundly grateful to Leonardo for bringing this back into my life. I think drawing has helped to make my life a little less bleak lately."

"Leonardo once told me he thought you seemed sad. Could it be he was right?" The face of Aquilo's sister looks up at Ezio with a little surprise showing in the wide green eyes and in the arch of her eyebrows.

"I suppose I should have guessed he would notice… He is _Leonardo da Vinci_ after all…" She breathes in deeply, "Yes, I suppose he is right… But sad doesn't really do this feeling justice." She pauses for a moment and Ezio sits down on the grass beside her, "Ezio… You have a family, yes?"

"Yes. My mother and sister are living with my uncle at the Villa that belongs to my family."

"And your father?" Ezio pauses but Aquilo feels him decide to tell her.

"My father and my two brothers were wrongly executed fifteen years ago. I fought for a long time to avenge them, but along the way I learnt a lot… Made many friends and found something of a new family."

"In the Brotherhood?" The question shocks Ezio as much as it does Aquilo. After he doesn't answer right away Neoma continues, "I see the way you walk. The way you handle yourself. And that." She points at the weapon of choice of the Brotherhood, the hidden blade.

"You are familiar with the Brotherhood then? Are you an Assassin?"

"Not really, no. But I have encountered them before. As well as the Templars."

"Yes… It had been the Templars behind the wrongful execution of my father and two brothers." Ezio pauses and they sit in silence for a few minutes, "How about you, Neoma? Do you have family?"

"Yes… Kind of. They are extremely far away, and I haven't seen them for a long time… Nor do I expect to see them for a long time…" Ezio notices her shoulders sag a little and the book of drawings goes limp in her grip, "It's lonely this… existence. I fear that everything that has happened to me… Everything I have done… It's changed me. And I fear that my family won't accept me like this. All they know is the kind, gentle me who could barely lift a hand against anyone. And now… I've had to kill to defend myself and others. I'm afraid that all they will see is a monster who took my place."

"Many people have had to kill, naturally as an Assassin I have as well. But I don't think that that makes you a monster. In fact… I believe that worrying about it like you are makes you just as human as anyone." Ezio reaches an arm around her shoulders and gives a gentle squeeze for comfort.

"I appreciate the thought… But there is a lot more that I can't really explain. It's _that_ part that makes me a monster more than the killing. I've changed. And I can't go back. I live in darkness and I fear that if I can't find the light, my family will reject me. It's why I've been so eager to spend time with Leonardo… He helped bring art and drawing back into my life… It's almost like a ray of moonlight breaking through the black storm."

"Leonardo has that effect on people. I can only hope to bring half as much light to the world as he does."

The pair just sit for a while as the sun sets and the moon's light begins to sparkle over the waves.

The memory ends and Aquilo finds himself in the Memory Corridor, suddenly heavy with guilt. This woman, Neoma, who looks just like his Astraea, fears so deeply that her family will reject her. That her family will accuse her of being a monster and not who herself…

And that's exactly what he did this afternoon.

While he may not have said it directly to Astraea, he did call her a monster. And he openly rejected her to her face. Over a sparring match… Aquilo stews over the match again, with how overwhelming Astraea had felt towards the end. The way she so easily deflected his blows and how she had even been tapping his wrists as he threw punches as though she had been watching them in slow motion.

Aquilo knows that he is no beginner in fighting… Even among Assassins, there are few to rival his strength and skill. So for his little sister, of all people, to have so overwhelmingly beaten him, without even getting short of breath… It really left him shellshocked. And he hadn't dealt with it well. Especially since near the end, as he had been goading her into not holding back, she let him feel her true presence. And to have that presence sweep his feet out from under him then pin him to ground like he were a small child had terrified him. Which led to him calling her a monster to Zephyr.

 _Alright, we're bringing you out to eat something. Plus, word came in from Aurora._ Rebecca's voice comes in to let Aquilo know that he isn't diving straight into the next memory. Which he wonders if it is a good thing… It only really gives him more time to stew over this afternoon's debacle and consequent shouting match with his more people-intuitive twin. Zephyr managed to get Aquilo to agree to thinking about talking with… Her.

Aquilo hadn't even realize how different she was until she had let loose whatever it was that she released in the sparring match. Aquilo couldn't even find the words to describe it, other than pure undiluted power. It shocked Aquilo so badly that he reacted as an Assassin to a threat, it had been his instincts taking over.

_Lio?_

"Yeah?"

_We're bringing you out in… Three, two, one…_

Then the bright lights of the basement workspaces greet his eyes as he wakes up from the Animus.

"Alright… Everything was looking good so far. The next memory is during a Carnevale, so I figured now is as good a time as any for you to take a bio-break. Plus, it's been working very smoothly that each subsequent memory seems to just fall into place as you work through them." She holds out a bottle of juice and Aquilo takes a long drink.

"You said word came in from Aurora?" Aquilo mentions.

"Right, yeah, Layla came back a little while ago with word from Aurora…" Rebecca starts, then notes Aquilo's expression, "She came back here to get away from the whole Isu stuff out there. Anyway, apparently something may have come up, so Aurora is staying the night there. Layla said Aurora would be coming back tomorrow evening."

"Alright, I guess I'll have to wait to speak with her… What time is it now then?"

"We are now at almost 10 pm, did you want to call it quits for the night?"

"Yeah… Where's Zephyr at?"

"I'm right here, what's up?" Zephyr steps from behind Rebecca's work area where the bigger screen is set up to see the feed from the Animus with a clipboard on his lap.

"I wanted to talk about how much that woman looks like Astraea. Rebecca, you mentioned that a possibility is that she could be something like the Sage, right? I don't remember too much on the subject but wasn't that a sort of one-off experiment by…"

"Juno." Zeph completes for him, "Yes, the Sage, as he has been called throughout history, is the appearance of the DNA of the Isu, Aita, Juno's husband, in the human genome. Most of these Sages have gone crazy after Aita's memories began to surface and those that didn't have shown troubling tendencies to side with and rise to the highest ranks of the Templars… Like Jacques de Molay and Francois-Thomas Germain, who both rose to become the Grandmasters of their times, or an unnerving disregard for human life, like the pirate Bartholomew Roberts." Zeph leans against Rebecca's desk.

"I said that it's possible. You have to admit that there is a whole lot about the Isu that we still don't know. I mean the Staff kept Kassandra of Sparta alive for well over two-thousand years."

"While that's true, I don't think that it's the case here." Zephyr stands firm.

"Hopefully, we'll get some more answers later on in the memories, but I think it's best if we keep all of this on the downlow for now." Rebecca proposes, in attempt to diffuse the tension between the two twins.

"Even from Raea?" Zeph brings up.

"Often in the cases of Sages they already know… But it couldn't hurt to not mention it. Anyway, Layla also mentioned that the day after tomorrow Aurora wants to take your dearest little sister to the dig site." Rebecca says.

"Oh? Did she say why?" Aquilo asks.

"Well, all of us have been to it by now… Except her of course." Zephyr counters.

"Yeah, I guess…"

"Anyway, you should probably get some rest, Shaun is on his watch round and Zephyr's is next in a few minutes." Rebecca states as she shuts down her computer before standing up and walking towards one of the exits to the space, all of which tend to be as well hidden from the inside as the outside.

"Right." Zephyr goes to the one that is typically used for the watch shift due to its height and overall ease of roof access.

"Well, goodnight then…" Aquilo says to the leaving people before going up to the bedroom that he has been using.

He spots light from around the door of the room Astraea is using, but he only pauses for a moment before going into his room and closing the door.

* * *

Aquilo settles into the Animus' chair, he can hear Astraea's voice coming from near Shaun's workspace, but he ignores it. He'd had a nightmare of an Isu who took away his sister and replaced her with a monster, like the legends where fairy folk would steal babies and leave changelings in their place. In his nightmare, the Astraea-replacement had earned the trust of his whole family before killing them before his eyes.

With the nightmare so fresh in his mind he couldn't even look at her when they had happened to cross paths when she was leaving the bathroom when he had just been arriving to use it. He had snuck one look at her as he shut the door though… He had seen her with her eyes screwed shut and a hand covering her mouth.

But he just couldn't shake the feeling that there is a piece of this puzzle he is missing. Would having Isu memories awakening within her cause her to gain enough physical prowess to overpower him so completely. And not just in the raw power category but also in how she clearly had more experience fighting than him.

He shoves all those thoughts aside as Rebecca counts down to sending him into the Memory Corridor, and from there into the memories of Ezio as he interacts with the woman with empty eyes.

The lights of the Carnevale fill the space around Aquilo. The men and the women all wearing masks and laughing, dancing, and drinking away. Ezio works his way through the crowds to a lonely looking head of blonde curls belonging to a woman in a beautifully embellished emerald and gold dress.

"Neoma, I wasn't expecting you to be so… Beautifully dressed."

"I do _have_ plenty of dresses. I _choose_ not to wear them most days. And just because I'm a monster doesn't mean I need to look like one." Ezio chuckles as Neoma turns around, his thoughts of course linger on how the dress reveals more skin than she would normally show. His eyes linger on her bosom, where Aquilo notes the faint lines of many scars that sit on the skin around her collar bone.

"Would you care to dance then, signorina?" Ezio holds out and Neoma takes it and he leads them in a dance. Her eyes only visible through the mask of delicate gold swirls and deep green enamel.

"So have you been able to find a light to banish the storm yet?" Ezio asks as they gracefully dance around to the lively music.

"Not to banish the storm, yet… But I did find something to help me weather it a little longer…" The woman answers. Although, to Ezio's eyes her eyes look as dull and empty as the day he first met her under the tree. She is beautiful, and Ezio finds himself wishing he could banish her darkness away.

"Would that be Leonardo's doing then?" He prods.

"Partially, but I think perhaps _some_ of it may have been talking with you. I'm really not sure, but I feel a little less in the dark than before… It's almost like someone has lit a candle next to me. A small, comforting light. Nothing so grand as to send the night away or light the whole path, but enough to see the next steppingstone at least." Neoma's answer sounds so poetic to Aquilo, he finds himself relating to her little by little…

"Well, I'm glad for my part in that then." He finds himself dipping his head down towards her to peck her on the cheek.

They chat, dance, and drink the whole night long. Ezio wanting to draw it out as it is their last night before he and Leonardo depart for Monteriggioni in the morning.

Then when he finally drops her off at her home, she beckons him inside.

There they spend the rest of the entwined, but Ezio's thoughts are only on how she seems to be searching for something to fill an emptiness deep inside of her heart. Or rather in her analogy, a light bright enough to banish the black storm.

Aquilo's thoughts linger on how this woman seems so alone despite having the company of Ezio and Leonardo.

And how she fears to be called a monster.

Then as the world of memories dissolves around him, he arrives in the Memory Corridor.

 _Alright, there's still plenty of time, did you want to jump into the next memory?_ Rebecca asks into the empty space of the Corridor.

"What time is it?" Aquilo asks her.

_Just after five pm, Aurora said she would be back here around five-thirty or so… But this memory is short._

"Alright, let's do one more before she gets back… I want to talk to her so let's try to be done close to when she gets back here."

_Gotcha. The next memory is loading now… Three, two, one…_

"Arriving together? What did I do to deserve two wonderous people arriving at the same time to… Well… Not my home anymore…?" Leonardo stumbles over realizing that as of this day he no longer lives in his Venice workshop.

"Well, I'm not sure who you're seeing Leonardo, but it's definitely not the two of us…" Neoma quips as she elbows Ezio in the ribs. Ezio looks down at the joking woman, only to see her eyes dull as heavily tarnished silver. She may sound jovial and light, but it's all a sham. This is one of the only truths Ezio has learnt about this strange woman.

"No, no! Anyone I call my friend is a wonderous person." Leonardo comes to the defense of Neoma in the wake of her self-deprecating humour.

"Ah, so, just as beauty is subjective to… Whomever is observing it. You're saying that being wonderous is a matter of subjective observation." Ezio just looks over and eyes the woman.

"I have never heard anything said in such a complicated way…" Ezio says slowly, partially still processing what was said, "It reminds of some of the dull Greek philosophy works I was forced into reading as a teen…" This earns a smile from Neoma, with a hint of a glimmer in her eyes; the smile looking almost reminiscent.

"You are absolutely right, Neoma! Especially in that I view the both of you as wonderous, but anyone who's ever been at the end of his blade has likely not thought so about him." Neoma laughs and Ezio thinks he spots a glimmer in her eyes of true happiness, but as quickly as he spots it, it vanishes, leaving her eyes the same as ever.

"Right you are, Leonardo!" Neoma says as she pats him on the shoulder, "I will miss you my friend. You brought me back to being able to sit and let my mind be free for a little while, through my art. It has been a long time since I felt the drive to create like this. I can't thank you enough."

"Nor I, you, Neoma. You gave me an excellent subject to draw and paint." Leonardo rummages through one of the piles and fishes out a leather-bound cylinder. He opens it and shows Neoma a lovely painting of her in the unique way that Leonardo commands the paint. Nothing so complicated as some of his works, but no less beautiful.

"Leonardo…" She starts.

"Don't say you can't accept it. Because here you are." He slides the painting back into the protective roll and takes her hand, "And you are accepting it." He puts the roll in her hand before pushing her hand back to her chest.

"Thank you. Best of luck in everything you do." She says it confidently as though it's something she's certain will come to pass.

"And to you, Neoma." Leonardo says before going over to his still waiting pile of stuff remaining on the ground next to the cart.

Leonardo busies himself putting the last things in the cart getting ready to leave Venice, leaving Ezio and Neoma watching.

"It was certainly interesting to meet you, Neoma."

"Likewise, Ezio Auditore." He puts a hand on her shoulder and leans down to kiss the sides of her face in a parting gesture.

"I hope you find a sun to bring you daylight and banish your storm."

"Thank you, Ezio. I wish you only the best."

Then she walks away. She doesn't look back at all. But Ezio watches until she turns a corner and disappears.

Aquilo materializes in the Corridor, marvelling at how alike this woman, Neoma, and his sister are. When Rebecca chimes in.

_Aurora just arrived a little while ago, are you ready to come out?_

"Why didn't you pull me out as soon as she arrived?" Aquilo asks, more than a little aggravated.

_Because you were practically finished with this whole section of memory information. The next memory I've found that correlates to this is the one in Istanbul. I guess you're probably half-way through at this point… But I didn't realize it was an emergency that you talk to your mom._

Rebecca only ever addresses Aurora as Aquilo's mom when he's being childish… Which, he supposes he kind of is being… But it's all because he is trying to warn his mother about how dangerous Astraea has become.

"Fine… Are you ready to pull me out then?"

_Absolutely… three, two, one…_

Aquilo opens his eyes and detaches himself from the Animus before thanking Rebecca, and going to the building where he, his family, and Astraea have been staying.

Once he is up the stairs, he goes into the kitchen to find Aurora sitting at the table looking over some paperwork. She hears him approach and greets him without looking up.

"Hi, Lio. I hear you've been re-exploring some of Ezio's memories…" She starts saying it as though he is wasting time.

"Yeah, actually," Aquilo sits across the table from his mom, "We may have found something new… I went into a memory to try and persuade Astraea to use the Animus, but when the memory was playing through, I realized it was a little different than the first time I went through it."

"Really?" Aurora lowers the paperwork and looks at Aquilo.

"Yeah… There was a person who hadn't been there at all the first time, or rather, any of times anyone else has synched with Ezio's memories."

"Intriguing… Well, have you gotten to the bottom of it yet then?" She asks, always the next question… First is always, 'Is what you're doing worthwhile?' Second is always, 'Are you done then?'

"Not yet. Rebecca narrowed down all the affected memories. She wagers I'm about half-way done at this point."

"Well… Good job. Let me know how it all turns out." She tilts the paperwork back up to finish reading it.

"I will… But mom?" She lowers the papers again, usually Aquilo calling her mom gets her attention since he typically addresses her as Aurora, "Be careful around Astraea… I—"

"I'm going to stop you there. She mentioned that you might try and talk to me about her. She said that she intends to have a long, private talk with me tomorrow while we are on our way to the site. In fact, she wanted to have it asap, but I managed to negotiate the private conversation to the trip out to the site. So, let me hear from her what she has to say, then I'll listen to anything you want to say." Aquilo just sits there open mouthed looking at his mom, that imposter had already gotten to her. It's not enough that she had already convinced Zephyr and Emmett, and probably Kiyoshi too, but now she's even gotten to my mother. Convinced her that she deserves to be heard. Any guilt he had been feeling about his treatment of her dissipates and he is only left feeling anger. But he also knows that his mom is just as stubborn, if not more so, than him. Meaning that now that she's decided to hear out the imposter first, that's exactly what's going to happen.

"Fine. But please, be careful. Something isn't right." He bites out.

"She's your sister, Aquilo, not some deplorable monster." That's what _you_ think. But I've seen otherwise.

"See you later then." He says curtly and Aurora only hums an answer as he passes by her to the stairs to go to bed for a nap, despite the growling protests of his stomach.

As he goes up to his space, he passes a window and looks out into the courtyard where he sees the imposter woman drawing under the solitary tree. No… Not drawing. She is gliding her fingers over a finished drawing delicately. Aquilo watches from the edge of the window for a moment. Her expression stays gentle and loving, with the corners of her lips turned up, but her eyes seem incomparably sad.

Then he sees the woman who was given the Staff of Hermes, Layla arrive at the tree.

Aquilo continues along his way to nap a while before returning to the world of memories in his DNA.


	17. Revelations

_Aquilo_

Aquilo only rests for about an hour and a half before grabbing a few protein bars and heading back down to the Animus. He sees Layla, a woman is joining Shaun and Rebecca after they leave here, sitting in a couch on the other side of the basement. She looks more ragged than ever, the dark circles under her eyes seem to only ever get worse.

Although, with the word that came back from Greece… It isn't surprising. Aquilo couldn't believe what he had been hearing when word came back… Then that Layla would be coming here to join us for a while, he admitted to being nervous about it. But she has seemed outwardly better ever since they gave her that mood modulating thing.

Aquilo sees her wave as he walks towards Rebecca, so he gives an uncertain wave back before getting to Rebecca's workstation and the Animus.

"Back so soon?" Rebecca asks as he comes from behind the wall.

" _Tried_ to talk to my mom. She was, as usual, being pretty stubborn. So I took a nap—"

"And scarf down some protein bars?" She uses her pen to point at the four wrappers in his hand.

"Yep… Anyway, let's get the rest of those memories done."

"Awesome. They're all set to go, let's get you hooked up. How late do you want to go?" Rebecca asks as she pats the chair of the Animus.

"It's a little after seven now… Let's just see how far we can get tonight. As long as your okay with a late night."

"No problem for me. Just let me know when you're ready to come out. If we don't finish the memories first anyway."

Aquilo sits down and they get him ready. Then she initializes the Animus bringing the Memory Corridor before him. Aquilo can't remember the last time he had used the Animus so consistently… And never before had something depend on him finding a nugget of history in the memories of his DNA. Most of the big mysteries of his DNA had been scoped out by Desmond before he had been even using the Animus at all…

_Okay, so this memory is the one of the meeting in Istanbul… From what I can tell it's brief but leads almost directly into the next memory._

"Gotcha. Ready when you are Becks."

_Launching the memory… Three, two, one…_

The hideout of the Istanbul Assassins springs to life before his eyes as Ezio sits at the end of the table with the few Assassins seated there as Yusuf introduces him.

Aquilo doesn't pay any attention to the words being said because he is waiting for the woman. And there she is. She is wearing similar Assassin's robes to the others in the room, but dark green with black and gold accents, and from Ezio's memory the mask she is wearing is similar to some he saw on the way in, if a little more ornate with some gold decorations on the swirls. Something Aquilo notices this time are the tips of blonde curls peeking between the mask and the hood. _It looks like the mask got put on quickly._

She obviously cares for Yusuf, and Emmett did say that the Assassins in Istanbul had told Yusuf's illegitimate son that he had been married. Aquilo now sees the way she places her hand on Yusuf's arm when he mentions the ambush from the Byzantines and the way Yusuf's hand immediately goes to it without missing a beat of what he is saying to his Assassins.

"Hemen!" Yusuf _almost_ shouts to his underlings who then jump into action, "And you, Ezio…" Yusuf gestures to all of Ezio, "Your weapons and armour are in a pitiful state…" Ezio begins to look himself up and down, "Maybe find some money and repair what you can. There's a blacksmith nearby. He's a friend." Ezio's hidden blade screeches as it ejects and retracts. Not even accounting for the broken second hidden blade.

"Buona idea." Ezio walks towards the exit of the hideout. Stopping along the way to greet some Assassins who are introducing themselves. Part way over the bridge to the exit after finishing his greetings, Ezio looks back. To see Yusuf kneeling before the women with his hand on her face before he pulls her face in to kiss it. A long tress of blonde curls falls from behind the hood as Ezio turns around and exits the hideout.

The memory shudders a little bit as it jumps forward to having Ezio, Yusuf, and this woman all on a rooftop. Aquilo recognizes the scene as where Yusuf demonstrates how to use the hook blade to create opportunities for air assassinations.

"A templar scout." Yusuf points across the street to the next rooftop, and the woman nudges his arm, "And another there." Yusuf grabs Ezio's arm, "Watch this." Yusuf jumps and slides down the zipline, dismounts the zipline into a perfect air assassination. Silent, as it went unnoticed by the scout's partner.

Yusuf makes fighting and grunting sounds before shouting, "Assassin! Help!" Ezio looks over to see the woman's shoulders sink a little and the smallest sound of a giggle escapes from behind the mask.

"You better go over there…" She shrugs as the second Templar scout hops off his roof to examine his comrade's body. Then Ezio uses the zip line to flawlessly copy what Yusuf had just done.

Then the Memory Corridor rematerializes around Aquilo rather suddenly.

"Was that the end of the memory or did something go wrong?" He asks.

_Nothing's wrong, just the end of the memory… Next one is all set to go. And launch!_

Ezio perches above the area where the hideout had been taken. Yusuf said that he had already sent some Assassins ahead to scout the situation. But as he looks he can see that there is already fighting happening below. Many of the Assassins are fighting their way to the hideout.

Ezio uses his keen sense to find that the leader of this stolen den isn't so cowardly as some… He is making his way up to a rooftop where two Assassins are already fighting an uncomfortable number of Byzantines. He notes the darker robes of the woman who appeared to be Yusuf's love in the fray. He had seen her a few other times since his arrival, but every time she seems to be wearing the ornate metal mask.

Aquilo counts ten that he can see already on that rooftop; he is certain that there is no way that only two would be able fight against that many.

Ezio springs into action. Leaping and soaring across the rooftops.

A race against time…

Even a master of combat could only hold out against that much pressure for so long.

He isn't sure he could even have accomplished that in his prime.

Ezio dashes across the gable of a roof to arrive at the leader of the Byzantines.

He launches himself up a little and drives his hidden blade home to a clean kill.

Impressing Aquilo, Ezio launches back into a sprint before rapidly freeclimbing up to the rooftop where he is certain he will find two dead Assassins. Using the hook blade he pulls himself over the ledge of the roof expecting to find at least three Byzantines ready to attack him.

But he only finds a scene of pure carnage. Some of the Byzantines were killed with simple and precise slashes, either by hidden blades or a sword. The work of a true master; efficient kills, no wasted energy. But a couple of them were killed with sloppier slashes from heavier and uncertain swings with the hidden blade, the work of a beginner. By Ezio's counting eight were killed by the master and two by the student.

Ezio then spots the woman in dark green crouched next to the other Assassin with her hand gently placed on the cheek of the Assassin, who appears to be a young woman.

"Shh… It will be okay. You did well. Now rest." Ezio hears her voice and it tings a distant memory, but the memory won't surface.

As Ezio gets to them he crouches down next to the woman.

"I thought for sure that I would be arriving to find two Assassins lost. You are a formidable opponent it seems." The young-looking Assassin releases one final breath with her deep umber eyes looking forever forward.

"Not formidable enough it seems. I couldn't save her."

"We cannot save everyone every time. Her name?"

"Feray."

"Requiescat in pace… Feray." He reaches out and gently draws the young woman's eyes closed.

"Thank you. I will go see to any of the other Assassins. I imagine you've already killed the leader, so you can go light the signal fire." She stands up straight and hops down off the rooftop.

Ezio evaluates the area again, his surprise making him ever more curious of this constantly masked woman.

The memory fades away into the Corridor. Aquilo still shocked at how that woman had managed to kill so many… And from what Aquilo could see there hadn't even been any wounds on her.

_Alright, Lio. We have the next memory ready. Looks like it is just a couple of weeks after that one._

"Alright. I'm ready." Aquilo says firmly.

Then the next memory grows into place around him.

Back in the headquarters, Ezio strolls through acknowledging the Assassins who stop to pay him respect. The place looking busier than when he had first arrived in Istanbul.

Aquilo can see through the memories that he has managed to get his hands on one of the other disc keys to unlock Altair's Library.

One of the newer recruits Ezio had brought in, Szofia, makes her ways across the space at the top of the stairs ahead of him calling a name. He doesn't quite catch the name but when the recruit spots him, she stops and smiles.

"Mentor! Wonderful to see you again."

"Same to you, Szofia. Who were you just calling to?" Ezio looks into the direction the girl had been going.

"Oh, I was just calling for—" Szofia starts.

"Me." And Yusuf's love, the woman whose name I still have not gotten, enters the space with her dark green hood up and the metal mask of swirls secured over her face.

"Yes." The recruit girl grins widely, "She's been helping me settle in amongst the other Assassins and finding my place here. I'm grateful to you for bringing me to this place, but I'm grateful to her for helping make it my home." She steps over to the woman who secures a gold sash around Szofia's hips.

"How do you like it?" The woman asks putting her hand on Szofia's shoulder.

"It is beautiful, but I think I would prefer a nice teal, like Master Yusuf's sash…"

"That will come in time…" The woman says warmly, "But you should probably go see if there's any training you can do today. Your skills with slight-of-hand are excellent but you need more than that to live this life."

"Thank you, Miss Raea." She bows a little, "Mentor."

Aquilo's heart begins to race. Did that girl just call the woman there, 'Raea?' The memory gets jumbled a little and almost begins to move in slow motion, with parts at the edges of his vision separating.

_Woah, Lio, you gotta calm down… Your heartrate is spiking bad._

Aquilo uses one of the methods that Nyx once taught him on calming down inside of the Animus, to avoid desynching. Luckily, it only just manages to work and the memory resumes.

"I do not believe we have been properly introduced. I am Ezio—"

"Auditore. Yes, I'm aware. I don't think there's a soul here who doesn't know who _you_ are." She sits down at the table nearby and Ezio sits down across from her. Ezio notices that she does not refer to him as 'Mentor' like the other Assassins of this Brotherhood.

"That puts you at an advantage since I do not know who you are. All I know is that Szofia just addressed you as 'Raea.'" Aquilo can see Ezio aiming to use skills that usually work on most any woman, except this one apparently.

"Why yes. Yes, it does put you at a disadvantage doesn't it." Aquilo can practically hear the smile in the woman's voice as she crosses her arms. Ezio's weary mind still cannot place where he recognizes the voice from though.

"Ah! Najmay! I see you are conversing with our esteemed Mentor!" Yusuf comes from behind Ezio and claps his hand on Ezio's shoulder. Aquilo's worries subside as Yusuf calls the woman Najmay and not Raea, "I wonder Najmay, have you considered what I suggested last time? It has been a couple of weeks now." Najmay's shoulders visibly tense up at the mention of whatever it is they discussed earlier. Then Yusuf gently nudges her shoulder and beckons Ezio to follow, "Come, let's go somewhere a little more private."

They all go to the library and Yusuf shoos the couple of people from the space. Then he and Najmay bring in a few chairs but don't sit right away. So neither does Ezio. Yusuf also asks Kasim to keep the others away for a while.

"So, Najmay. Don't you think that we should share this?" He reminds her why they change their surroundings.

Yusuf then walks around to Najmay who had relaxed a little tenses right back up at the mention of this suggestion again.

"Yusuf… I… I'm not—" She starts.

"Najmay, my love…" Yusuf goes over to her and places his hands at the edges of the mask, "We need not hide here." Yusuf pauses long enough that she could have stopped him, but she does not act as he removes the mask. Ezio does notice her fists clenched so tightly her knuckles are turning white. Yusuf then places the mask on the table before lowering her hood to reveal the head full of loose blonde curls that Ezio almost recognizes. Her eyes stay locked on Yusuf's as she bites her lip hard enough to draw blood, "Najmay… Relax, he is our friend. He is _your_ friend, yes?" He wipes away the trail of blood and her head drops a little.

"Yes…" She almost whispers. Ezio taking it as him being a friend of the Assassins in general.

"No one should bear your burden alone." Yusuf says, which gets her to look back up at him, but from Ezio's spot at the table all he can see is the blonde hair as it blocks her face, until she turns to face him. Aquilo and Ezio could not have been more in synch at that moment, as the woman reveals her face to him.

"Hello, Ezio…" She says and Ezio just lets his jaw drop as he stands up and walks over to her and touches her face.

"Neoma? Is that—?" Ezio stops himself, completely unbelieving of what he's seeing.

"Yusuf… I think he's in shock. Maybe you should sit down Ezio…" She takes Ezio's shoulders and guides him to a chair.

"So, that _is_ you, Neoma? But how? We parted a decades ago, and you look completely unchanged." Ezio finally manages to say the green eyes of the woman before suddenly looking familiar, and yet totally different.

"Yeah… And I am the same person but… My name isn't really Neoma…" She starts but she pauses and scratches the back of her head.

"Is it Najmay then?" Ezio jumps into, "But Szofia called you Raea…"

"Najmay is just what _I_ call her. For she is my star." The green eyes fill with a glittering life as she hears Yusuf say that while putting his hand on her shoulder. Ezio marvels at the change in her eyes, where they had been dull and vacant when they had parted ways, they are now alight and glowing with life.

"My real name is Astraea."

The whole memory shatters around Aquilo and the next thing he sees is the bucket in front of him as he heaves up the pitiful meal of protein bars.

"There you are big guy…" Rebecca says as she rubs his back.

"It's impossible right?" He asks, more for confirmation than anything.

"Judging by what was revealed by Kassandra of Sparta, I'm going to have to say… No, not impossible. But I suppose to really find out we need to finish that memory, yeah?" Aquilo breathes deeply and nods.

Rebecca holds out a bottle of water and Aquilo chugs it all in one breath.

"That is if you're still up to it. We could take another break…"

"No, we need to get to the bottom of this. _I_ need to get to the bottom of this. Let's go." He lays back down and Rebecca shrugs before getting him ready to dive back into the Animus.

After a short stint in the Memory Corridor, Rebecca reinitializes the memory.

"My real name is Astraea." She says to Ezio as she sits down on a chair in front of him, "And this is all going to sound completely crazy." She warns Ezio, "So I need to make sure that you're ready to hear this. Because there is no going back once I tell you. If you don't want to hear it… I won't say anything more." She stops talking.

Ezio's mind is racing over how she doesn't look even a day older than she did before and wondering whether he's ready to hear how.

Aquilo's mind is centered on watching this Astraea, he spots a single small scar on her eyebrow, one that Aquilo recognizes by having put one on his Astraea by accident when they were children.

"You found a sun, it seems." Ezio finally says, Astraea's eyes looking surprised for a moment before her whole face softens. She puts her hand on Yusuf's as it rests on her shoulder.

"Yes… Yes, I did. I found a dazzling light to bring me into the day." Her smile glows.

"This… What you are intending to tell me… Is it why you were so empty seeming before?" Her shoulders sink and she looks down.

"Yes… So, please, if you don't want to hear it tell me. It isn't easy to hear, nor is it easy to tell."

"You did fine with me, and I like to think I did pretty well in hearing it." Yusuf boasts.

"Yes, yes you did." She assures him.

"Well, I have seen plenty of inexplicable things in my time, so this can't be much worse than those." Astraea looks confused by the sentence, "I'll explain after you've had your chance. But go ahead, I will listen to what you have to say."

This Astraea then launches into unbelievable thing after unbelievable thing. Starting with the fact that she has lived longer than anyone else. That she has shown no signs of physical aging for upwards of tens of thousands of years. The entire time Ezio reeling but holding on, with a grateful Aquilo using Ezio's strength to keep himself holding on. When she stops talking for a little, Ezio processes for a few minutes.

 _It's seeming more and more likely that this is your Astraea. The only unanswered question being how she ended up there. Because I know I've seen baby pictures of all of you at this point. And I have definitely seen pictures of younger both of yous._ Rebecca's voice over the link helps to center Aquilo.

"Maybe if we continue the memories we'll get a solid answer for that too…" Aquilo answers her.

Ezio breathes in deeply and organizes his thoughts.

"Now, all of that just makes what I thought unusual seem like an ordinary occurrence." He says, "Because twelve years ago, I opened a Vault beneath the Vatican that was unlike anything I had ever seen before." Astraea coughs out the sip of tea she had just taken and is wracked with coughs.

"You? You are the one that Minerva did all that preparation for? What did she say?"

"She did not speak to me much. Rather she spoke to a phantom who seemed to be behind me, she called him Desmond. She spoke of a catastrophe that had once occurred and would again in the future. I admit that most of it did not make very much sense to me." Ezio shrugs a little.

"No… I suppose it wouldn't, _they_ have that effect. Especially Minerva." I can't repress the eyeroll at remembering her riddling antics. "Although, I knew her better as Athena… But a lot of what she would say regarding the future often sounded like riddles. She was the best at sussing out which direction time would take though. I do know the catastrophe she mentioned… But whatever she did must have panned out well enough, because I don't remember the world getting destroyed at all." I look at Ezio, and while he is certainly handling it well, I can still see the gears spinning at max speed to process all the information.

"Right, well…" Yusuf places his hands on my back, "Perhaps we should get back to the problems of today for now and leave the future to this Desmond that your Athena seems to have so much confidence in."

"Yes, I agree… This has been a very… Strange discussion." Ezio stands to leave. Aquilo hoping that the conversation isn't completely over yet. He needs more answers.

"Shouldn't you also bring up your birthday, Najmay?" Yusuf places a hand on her shoulder, and Astraea breathes deeply in and then just as deeply out before answering.

"Yes…" She answers reluctantly.

"What about your birthday? Would it even be in a date as we use now, if you were born so long ago that is." Ezio argues, quite logically Aquilo thinks.

"That's the thing… My birthdate is August the twenty-fifth…" She looks at Yusuf, Ezio is already confused again, and Yusuf raises his eyebrows at her, "1992." She sighs.

The memory ends, placing a dumbstruck Aquilo in the Memory Corridor once again.

 _Well… That kind of settles that, doesn't it?_ Rebecca chimes in.

"But only partially… We need to see if there's an answer on how. Are there more memories?"

_Several, one that looks like it needs to be seen through, but the rest… They seem to be intricately woven in with the next memory. And the dates are lining up with when Ezio and Sofia Sartor are in Masyaf at Altair's Library. So…_

"After Yusuf's death…" Suddenly his heart aches. He thinks of how alight his sister's eyes were with Yusuf Tazim in Istanbul. Thinking of how she looked during their sparring match he remembers that her eyes don't look nearly so alive now. Although, they don't look as empty as they did in Ezio's memories of her in Venice. Which gives Aquilo a little hope.

He has been so cold to his sister since she won against him sparring. But if this is what happened to her, then of course she'd win… _But why didn't she just tell me?_ Aquilo thinks. But going over the memories from Ezio, he thinks he understands why. Aquilo knows he doesn't do well with things that sound unbelievable. He is a see-it-to-believe-it type person, and even he isn't sure if he would have believed her only hearing it like Ezio did. Nor has she gotten twenty years to prove her agelessness.

_So, what's the verdict? Are we going forward?_

"Yes. Load the next memory."

_Okay, here it goes…_

Ezio can still hear the chilling winds outside as they leave Altair's Library at the bottom of the once mighty fortress of the Assassins. A testament to a lesson that the Assassins still hold on to.

He hears a crash somewhere above them and uses his Eagle Sense to reveal that he and Sofia are not alone.

"Wait here…" Ezio says to his love.

"Be careful." She forcefully whispers to him.

Ezio climbs the old stairs of the fortress the air getting more frigid as he goes. He walks into what once must have been the Mentor's space, where his Eagle Sense had led him. He steps lightly around the rubble littering the floor around an old wooden bookcase. The first thing he sees is a pair of feet on the floor, but from someone laying down or sitting against the wall. He comes all the way around the corner to see the distressing sight of Astraea sitting on the floor against the wall, her skin bearing an alarming pallor.

Aquilo has to put his calming technique into practice again after seeing his sister in a state that would have meant death for anyone else.

"Astraea?" He says as he approaches her, "Astraea?" When she doesn't respond again, he touches her shoulder and her hand falls, revealing that she is desperately holding onto a piece of teal fabric. Yusuf's headband. Next to her is a bag, he grabs it, puts the headband inside, and slings it over his shoulder.

Ezio gently picks her up and carries her down to where Sofia is waiting. Once Sofia sees Ezio she walks up him.

"What was up there?" She asks as she gets closer, before gasping at seeing Astraea.

"A friend… A friend in pain." He says as Sofia places a hand on Astraea's face.

The pair set up a fire right there on the stone floor of the grand fortress, using whatever fuel they can find, keeping their friend near the fire until her eyes flutter open.

"Ezio?" She croaks out, looking past the fire at the old Assassin.

"Yes. Don't worry, we'll keep you safe." A single tear falls down Astraea's cheek as she closes her eyes again.

Then the memory fades and is replaced by a sort of speed reel.

Flashes of a lifetime go by, with Astraea visiting Ezio and his family over the years even after the son who bears their lineage was born, she still visited. Over and over again. Never changing. But always visiting.

Then Aquilo finds himself in the Memory Corridor again and being pulled out of the Animus altogether. When he opens his eyes there is a flurry of motion all around him, which can only mean one thing. Abstergo.

"How far out are they?" Aquilo asks as he stands up.

"They have just entered town. It looks like they don't know where we are yet. But they're moving fast. Right now we're doing staged exits, just a couple at a time Layla, Shaun, and I are next. I hope you found what you were looking for in there because there's no time left." Rebecca says as she removes the core of the Animus which she puts in a little box before stuffing it in a bag. Aquilo then helps her roll it into a hiding storage that will soon look like a plain stone wall.

"Not exactly… I'm going to have to ask Astraea myself… But…"

"Can I keep this under lock and key? Absolutely. I imagine she's been trying to tell you…"

"I know. I've been an utter asshole to her… It's all my fault too." The sound of Shaun tipping over one of the large shelving racks for effect reminds him where he needs to get going to, "Hey. Best of luck you two. I plan to see you soon." He waves and then goes through the door to the building his family had been using, almost not hearing the goodbyes from Rebecca.

He goes up the stairs and sees his mom coming down.

"Hey, where are the others?"

"Emmett has already left with a couple of the others, Zephyr and Astraea are on their way down. They were on watch. Luckily, they spotted them way out as they were coming around the mountains. We should be the last group leaving the area, we're using the tunnel out the bottom of this building to the edge of town."

"It's the one that comes out near the farm, right?"

"Exactly. Now let's go get the passage open so we can leave." Aquilo looks up the stairs hoping to see Astraea right away, but then follows his mom down to open the passage, as it does take a fair bit of strength.

_I hope I'm not too late…_


	18. Escapes

_Astraea_

He hasn't even been able to look at me…

What should I do?

You would _think_ this is something that I of all people could figure out… But… I just don't know how to approach him.

"Morning, Raea." Emmett says as I come into the kitchen area looking for something small to eat. Spotting an apple just waiting to be eaten, I grab it and wash it off quick.

"Good afternoon, Emmett." Which causes him to look up from his book at the time surprised, "What're you up to?" I ask him as I sit down at the table with my apple.

"Waiting to hear back from the higher powers." He flips the page of the book in his hand, ever the librarian I suppose…

"For reassignment now that you've delivered me to my family?" I guess.

"You got it." He points a finger gun at me and laughs a little.

"You're so weird." I say to him.

"You're one to talk." Zephyr says as he comes into the kitchen.

"Heyy, you must be reading my mind because you are so right." Emmett says, as the two team up on me completely. They are a nice distraction from the impending doom on the horizon with Aquilo.

"Also… Raea?" Zeph says as he comes right up to me and takes both my hands in his, looking deeply into my eyes.

"Uhh… Yes?" I ask him, "You are getting dangerously close to being called weird yourself Zeph."

"I am deeply sorry." He says with a concerningly deep sincerity.

"Oh? About what exactly?" I narrow my eyes with suspicion.

"If we hadn't kept all of this from you, then you wouldn't have let happen what you did in Venice." What? In Venice? I think back to what he could mean… Then it hits me like a freight train.

"No… Did Aquilo go through _all_ of Ezio's memories of me in Venice?" I ask desperately, as Emmett is getting increasingly interested.

"Yes. He did." _Oh my god…_ "Again, Raea. I am so deeply sorry. I know if you had known, you wouldn't have done that."

"No kidding! But you don't understand! Ezio was a _very_ charming man! And handsome! And maybe I was hoping that something like _that_ would have a similar effect to getting back to drawing…" I desperately try to explain from my position.

"And did it?" Zephyr asks.

"Well… No. Not really." I candidly answer.

"Sweet Jesus." Emmett exclaims, "Did you have sex with Ezio Auditore?"

"Agh… I can't believe that Aquilo went through that memory… I was already having trouble facing him… This just keeps getting better and better. I'm going outside." I snap bitterly as I take the apple with one bite out of it outside to sit under the tree in the courtyard and finish it by aggressively chomping bites out of the poor innocent apple.

I sit under the tree for a while, daydreaming of easier times when all I had to do was don a false name and live a false life. Lives where no one knew me, where no matter what happened I could just up and disappear and no one would be the wiser. I would travel to wherever I felt like going and no one would tell me I'm not who I am.

"Hey." I open my eyes to see Zeph approach and sit against the tree next to me.

"What's up?" I ask him.

"I know the whole thing with Aquilo didn't really work out like I had hoped… And I'm sorry. I didn't think that he would react like that…"

"Well… That's maybe a little bit my fault." I confess.

"How so?"

"Well, he had been insisting I not hold back against him… But that would have ended with him severely injured or maybe even dead. So, obviously, that wasn't an option. So I maybe let him feel how much of a threat I can amount to… In a way that I know experienced Assassins can feel when facing an opponent." I fiddle with the hems on the sleeves of my shirt, "I didn't expect him to respond like a threatened Assassin for real though… I thought he would go more along lines of 'That was _sick_!'"

"Ah… Well, to be fair that is kind of what I was expecting as well. Which I suppose is why I got so angry…"

"Hence the shouting match?" I ask as Zeph scratches the back of his neck.

"Yeah… I just wanted him to talk to you. But he…"

"I know. I heard. And…" _He's right…_

"He's wrong. You're not a monster." He places a hand on my knee, "I was the first to notice, remember? And I can confirm you are definitely _my_ Astraea. But please tell me you didn't inadvertently have sex with any of our other ancestors…"

"I cannot guarantee that. I never knew who our ancestors were. I can tell you that I didn't really do much of that… The only time I really was… invested in it... Was with Yusuf. And I definitely haven't since."

"Well… You didn't have any kids, did you? _Can_ you have kids? What if your kids had had kids with Ezio's line?" I just laugh a little at the line up of questions that Zeph unleashes.

"Well, that is not something you have to worry about. I can't have children. I stopped having any kind of reproductive cycle immediately after the whole ferry/time-travel business."

"Oh… Do you regret that?" Huh… No one has ever asked me that before…

"Maybe a little sometimes. I think I felt it most watching Flavia and Marcello. Sofia and Ezio seemed so euphoric every time they saw their children… I often wondered what a child between Yusuf and myself might have turned out like. But most of the time no… I don't think I would be able to bear having to watch my child grow up, have a family, grow old, and die. I think that would be a goodbye that would break me."

"I suppose that you've had a lot of goodbyes, haven't you?" Zeph says softly, as though he almost didn't want me to hear.

"Yes…" Faces of the people I've been close to and lost flood my mind, "Yes, I have. But only a few of them hit me really hard… Like Yusuf… And Kassandra." He flinches.

"I hadn't even thought of you knowing Kassandra… That was so recent too. I suppose when I was imagining your goodbyes, I was picturing them a long time ago, like Yusuf… Not so recent as a half a year..."

"And after so long too… We had known each other when she first carried the title of Eagle Bearer, but it wasn't until right around Julius Caesar's death that we reconnected. After that we made a point of getting together once every couple of decades or so… Often though, the world would see fit for us to run into each other. Like when I went to Greece with mom last year, I came across Kassandra on Santorini."

"If you ever want to just talk like this, or about anything really… I will always listen." He says warmly.

"I'm fine… But… Thank you, Zeph."

"Oh, I forgot to tell you earlier, but word came in from mom yesterday evening. She'll be back this evening and tomorrow she wants to take you out to the dig site."

"I was wondering if she ever got back last night, but there's the answer. Why does she want to take me out there?"

"Well, she _has_ brought all of us to it at one point. Well… Except Nyx, she's been busy with her own stuff for the Brotherhood. They've had her on point to watch for movement from the Instruments."

"Hmm… Makes sense I suppose. They're nothing if not persistent. Even though Juno's gone. Thank god." I wipe pretend sweat from my brow.

"You said it! Makes me feel a little less concerned knowing that there isn't a power mad, near goddess that despises humans on a rampage." He finishes and I laugh just at the way he decides to say it all in one breath.

"I admit that part of me is now glad that Ilios got to me first. He once told me that Juno had set her sights on me to fuel her next fucked up project…" He shudders next to me.

"I can't imagine what that must have been like… Then being in that stasis thing for so long…"

"The stasis wasn't so bad… It was like being knocked out and then waking up… You don't really realize how much time has passed. It would be nothing compared to say… Being stuck in the Memory Corridor of the Animus, where all you have for company is your thoughts as you live as little more than a disembodied thought yourself." Another shudder.

"I've heard of that happening before… I admit that I'm glad to not be super interested in hunting history through the Animus." He shrugs.

"I won't tell you any further. Partially, a lot of those memories have since faded. Partially, I want to keep it that way."

"Fair enough, I suppose." Zeph stands up and holds out a hand for me, once I don't move and just stare at it, he adds, "I'm hoping you can coach me on being a better fighter."

"Oh? You want to have a smackdown?"

"Maybe not so… Aggressive as a smackdown… But I could also do to improve." He smiles. I knew I always respected my brother for a reason, the attitude that there are always things to be learnt is a valuable trait.

"Hey!" Emmett walks out the back door of the building we're using and Zeph goes to the back door of the building hosting the abandoned pilates studio.

"I'll see you over there once you're changed."

"Nah, I don't need to change, I'll be there in a few."

"Are you gonna lay down the law with Zephyr?" Emmett looks between me and the walking away Zeph, "'Cause if you are, I'm gonna want that on video. The only people he can't beat are the head honchoes and Nyx."

"Nah, he just wants to improve. So there won't be a smackdown… Unless you want one?"

"Nope…" Emmett immediately raises both hands in surrender, then goes to lean against the tree, "So… Ezio, eh?" He waggles his eyebrows.

"Oh my god…" I just walk away towards the studio and leave Emmett leaning against the tree laughing his ass off.

* * *

The afternoon passes at a nice pace with Zephyr using training as a distraction for what is going on between me and Aquilo. Before I know mom is arriving back and Emmett is the one to call ahead of her arrival inside the studio.

"Hey, Aurora! We missed you at supper last night." Emmett could have been more inconspicuous, but he did get the message across, so we had to make it look as though Zeph had been training and demonstrating for me all afternoon when our mom comes up the stairs into the studio.

"Hey, you two." She looks around, "Where's your brother? I thought he was all excited to teach you, Raea."

"He was taking a break, something to do with potential new synchronization points in the Ezio memories." Zeph says while walking up behind me.

"Oh well, I suppose I'll chat with him later on then."

"Great job this aft… I think we'll make an Assassin of you yet." _Oof, that is laying it on a little thick, Zeph._ "I'm doing watch overnight, tonight. Did you want to join me for a while?

"Actually, that's a great idea. You should do it if you want to." Mom comments.

"Yeah, that's sounds good, will you come find me when it's time then?" I ask.

"Sure thing, Lil' Sis'!" He smirks wickedly.

"Either way, did Zeph tell you about what I'm hoping to do tomorrow?" Mom asks as Zeph heads down the stairs and she strolls up to me smiling.

"He said something about taking me out to the site tomorrow?" I say to her.

"Yeah, I'm hoping to show you what I really do now that it's on the table anyway. What do you think?" She hands me a bottle of water.

"I think that would be really awesome, mom. But there is one thing I wanted to talk to you about… As privately as we can manage…" I open the bottle of water.

"Hmm… Well, the most privacy we can get would be the drive out to the site in the morning if you can wait that long." I think carefully before answering, I want to have my fair chance to explain everything… But if Aquilo manages to talk to her first then her opinion may be already formed before I even get a chance.

"Alright, but can I ask you a little favour then?"

"Of course, hun."

"Aquilo has had a bit of a misunderstanding… Regarding what I want to talk to you about. And I just want to let you know that he might try to talk to you about me… My favour is to please give me a chance to explain myself before hearing him out… After I explain myself feel free to hear him out and make your own opinion of what I say."

"This sounds really serious… Are you sure it can wait until tomorrow?" She places a hand gently on my shoulder.

"If it means total privacy, then yes. But… Please consider my favour?"

"Okay. Aquilo has always been quick to jump to conclusions, and he often acts rashly and without prior thought. It also takes a lot to change his opinion once it's been made… I think he probably gets it from me, I've got something of a stubborn streak… But yes. I promise to hear you out tomorrow before listening to him. Then you can bet I will make my own opinion of it." She walks over to the stairs, "But if it's as serious as it sounds you better be prepared to tell your father at some point too." She says as she descends to the basement area. All I can think is, _yeah… That is a different kind of hurdle._

* * *

After my chat with mum I go out again to the courtyard with the tree. Naturally, I have my sketchbook with me. I draw for a while but then I turn the pages back a few and just look at one of the portraits of Yusuf. This one surrounded by the city he had loved so dearly. Also on the page is a lute, reminding me of the time when they had all dressed as entertainers to save the life of the young prince Sulieman. The memory brings a smile to my face but somehow still brings a hollow feeling that seems to accompany loss.

"You must be Astraea, Aurora's daughter, right?" A tired sounding voice comes from beside the tree, I snap my sketchbook shut on instinct.

"Yeah, that's me." I look over to her, she looks tired. And despite that she just arrived in front of me, her eyes make her thoughts look a thousand miles away.

"My name is Layla; I've been occasionally helping your mom at her site for the past little while… Ever since…" Her eyes darken for a moment, "It's not important. It's good to finally meet you."

"Good to meet you too." I answer automatically. Something about her seems… Different. Almost like how I am… But to a smaller degree. Like she has been strung along by fate.

"Do you mind if I stay here a while? I find it calming out here." She points to the side of the trunk next to me.

"Oh, sure. Go ahead." We sit in silence for a while and I go back to drawing.

"So… You just got drag into all this, right?" She asks.

"Kind of, yeah… I guess my family's been at it for a while though… Baby of the family problems I guess." I shrug a little and earn a small chuckle, "Do you mind me asking how you ended up with this whole Assassins business?"

"Well… I actually used to work for Abstergo…" She starts, "I had been so sure that I could make my mark there. That my work would change everything." I can hear the pain in her voice already.

"What made you leave Abstergo?"

"Well… I had been sent to Egypt to retrieve an important artifact, but I had been so convinced that all I needed to do was prove my worth that I kind of went rogue…" Yikes… Abstergo does _not_ take kindly to their people not listening to orders… "Yeah… I know, bad idea. They issued a kill order on me and my friend. Luckily for me I had been using my Animus and was experiencing some pretty serious Bleeding Effect, so I managed to protect myself. After that William Miles came along… And well. Obviously, I took his offer."

"Are you happy? Working with the Assassin I mean… Because I imagine it wasn't easy to abandon everything you had for this." I say.

"Well, I'd bet you know that plenty." She says back.

"I suppose so… But I wonder how similar it is…" _Not that she would understand where this is coming from…_ "You said you had been helping my mom, what are you all looking for out there?"

"Sorry, got a specific request from your mom to keep it mum."

"Dang it." I curse and Layla chuckles.

We chat idly for a little longer, I manage to get her to laugh until she was hoarse a couple of times. It had seemed to me like she had needed it.

"Well, I'm on night watch so I'd better get some shuteye before my brother comes to grab me." I say as I look to see the sun setting.

"Fair enough." She says, but I don't stand right away because it feels as though there is something more she wanted to say, "You know what? This isn't easy… It feels like every moment since Egypt has been a struggle… And lately it feels like it's all been for nothing… But I guess what I'm trying to say is… God, I don't even know. Just try not to be too hard on yourself for not… Being ready for all of this. I guess I thought I was but… Recent events have really…" Her words die on her lips, so I stand up and she does too as I tear a corner off a page of my sketchbook and write my encrypted email on the paper and pass it to her.

"I know how hard all this can be already… But don't ever blame yourself for your circumstances. If you ever feel like you need to talk, you can email me. I can't guarantee instant answers, but I will answer. I don't know what happened to get you so exhausted but trust there must be something behind it. More often than not that's the case." I hold my hand out to her and she grasps it, her eyes appraising me differently than before.

"I might take you up on that offer some day. And thanks… This was really nice, just chatting about useless things for a while." She releases my hand I begin to walk away.

"Honestly, useless conversation can be one of the most glorious distractions. Especially when it can be a humorous one. Bye." I wave as go into the building to head up the stairs and get at least a little sleep before the night begins.

* * *

The sun had long since set before Zeph comes calling. I had been sure to spend the rest of my evening napping to be ready for a long stint of wakefulness. I had successfully gotten three hours of sleep, which should help me through the next day. I open the window to let in the fresh nighttime breeze. Then I bring my backpack up onto the bed and unwrap my hidden blade.

"Hey, you ready?" Zeph taps the door a little bit, then his eyes settle on what I'm holding, "Wait a minute… Is that what I think it is?" He walks over to me eyes locked on my prize.

"Yep… This is the hidden blade I used when I was a part of Yusuf's Brotherhood in Istanbul."

"In the early 1500s… Wow… It's beautiful, you've taken really good care of it."

"It is one of my most important possessions. Along with…" I reach into my bag and procure the small painting of Yusuf and I, and I pass it to a wide-eyed Zephyr who handles it as though it were about to crumble to dust before him. He passes it back after a few minutes and I slide it back into the safety of my bag.

"Well, shall we go watch for them Templars?" I say with an exaggerated southern accent, Zeph laughs as I make my attempt at humour.

"Let's git 'er done!" He goes along with my joke.

We go up to the top of the building that they've been using for keeping watch and relieve one very salty Shaun. Very salty because we took ten minutes longer than we should have and he has more work to do than both of us combined. Which is not wrong.

Zeph offers me to use the night vision goggles to see the mountains in the distance and I shake my head.

"But they are _really_ cool…" He waggles them in front of my eyes.

"Maybe for you, but I don't need them," I turn to face him and point at my eyes, "These already do all the work for me." His jaw drops as he hands set the goggles down and he puts his hands on both sides of my face and gets his face right up close to mine.

"That is literally the coolest thing ever." He turns my head left and right to catch the slight sheen my eyes get in the dark, "How is it that we are directly related and yet you ended up with superpowers?"

"I don't know if I'd go as far as calling them superpowers…" I try to downplay my abilities.

"Hush." He sits back from me and puts a single finger on my lips, "Let me live my dream. My sister is a superhero." He then slips on the night vision goggles and proceeds to look out to where the mountains are to the south-east, "If you spot anything let me know, I'll call it in." He points at the radio in his ear.

"Rodger dodger." I sit down and close my eyes simply focusing and gently reaching my awareness over the whole city and just beyond it into the mountains.

"Uh… Usually being on watch involves watching." I hear Zeph say.

"Hush. You live your dream; your sister is a superhero. I can use a sort of Eagle Sense skill of my own that can extend my senses over large distances without any kind of power draw. And from what I've been able to test thus far, it seems to be undetectable by any modern means." I open my eyes to look at him.

"Sweet." He whispers before going back to surveying the area for a few minutes, "Do you think I could hone my Eagle Sense enough to do that?"

"Maybe after a lot of practice? I don't know if any Assassins have tried… There aren't that many I've even told to be honest…"

"That would be _so_ amazing…" _Nerd._ "But wait… If you can do that, then what even is the point of me being up here too?" Zeph exclaims.

"You're my supervision I guess…" I shrug, "It isn't like anyone would believe if said I 'felt' them coming…"

"True… Such is the bane of being a superhero, and of course why you need normies like me." He points his thumb at himself.

"Zeph… In the grand scheme of things, are you not closer to superhero than normie?" I reach up and braid my hair back.

"Good point… But. I counter with that there are some superheroes who have even more superheroness than most. That is where you fall on the spectrum. If there are two points on the spectrum," He holds up his hands about a foot apart, "One is normie," he waves his left hand, "And the other is superhero." He waves his right hand, "I land somewhere about here…" He moves his left hand a little past the halfway point to the superhero side, "And you?" He gestures at me before his hands resume the two original positions, "You land somewhere around here." He moves his left hand about a foot past the superhero boundary, "You fall into the super-superhero category. In terms of media you are OP." He bluntly concludes his explanation.

"Over-powered. Very funny. Back to watch duty with you." I point to the dark city.

"Don't talk back to your supervisor." He tuts me before going back to looking out over the city, and I return to focusing on keeping my awareness as wide as I can. Luckily, I can handle about a five hundred square kilometer area, which covers the city and most of the roads leading in and out.

Silence fills the city the way it only can in the dead of night, a couple of hours before the earlier risers and at least one after the partying subsides.

Until I spot a convoy of vehicles coming around the mountain road into the city from the north-west.

"Zeph. Mountain road, northwest. A convoy of identical vehicles coming into the city." I stand up and look out over the city, trying to spy them in between other buildings of similar height to this one. Zeph calls down on the radio to let them know what we spotted.

"Alright, they've started packing up the essentials, we get to keep an eye on the situation for a few more minutes to see if they've got a precise location on us or if they only know we're in the city."

I go back to focusing on the convoy and see them break off into three groups and each go to a section of the city, driving slower but combing the city at a brisk pace.

"It looks like they're combing the city from their entry point out. Not slowly, they must be looking for specific signals to check closer on." I relay to Zeph as I carefully observe their actions.

"Then it's only a matter of time." He says before he repeats what I said into the radio but makes it sound as though it were from visual observation instead of from my extended Eagle Sense, "Alright, that's us going down now." He slides the goggles down, so they hang around his neck and goes to the ledge where the top floor's balcony is, "Ready?"

"I'm hopping by my room quick, don't wait for me." I hop over the opposite side and free run my way over to the window I had thankfully left slightly ajar and hop into my room and get myself ready. I put my hidden blade on and pull a dark green hoodie on and slide the sleeve over it, so my mom doesn't see it… The neckline of this hoodie is the reason I choose it over my other hoodie because with the cowl neckline I can hide this… I pull the mask out of my bag, often the Templars have video equipment on raids like these… I slip the mask into the folds of the cowl of the hoodie and pull the deep hood up before grabbing my bag and hopping back out my window and down to the courtyard where Zeph is crossing into the house.

"Wow… That was fast… You really are a superhero." Zeph says as he looks me up and down.

"Ha, ha. _Very_ funny…" We go to the door and down to the basement where mom and Aquilo are already at _another_ secret door leading to a long tunnel. Aquilo and mom both already have night vision goggles on and at their wrists I can see the modern looking hidden blades.

Mom tosses Zeph a hidden blade and pulls her goggles up to her eyes.

"We have to be fast, Aquilo is going to pull the door shut behind us but this tunnel is long, so they'll likely find it before we get to the end. I don't have any more of the goggles, so you'll just have to stick close." We start walking and Aquilo looks at me before pulling the door shut, I see his eyes dart down to where the metal mask hides in my hoodie and he looks away when our eyes meet. Mom puts her hands on my shoulders, "And if one, god forbid, snatches you, don't hesitate to hurt them as much as you can." Aquilo slides his goggles over his eyes and I think I spot the barest hint of a smile at the corners of his lips. Luckily, even the eyes of a normal person appear to glow through night vision goggles.

"Okay." I say, knowing that I may have to act to protect her, without her even knowing just how much I can do.

"Alright, let's go." We start running down the tunnel, not at a dead sprint but a generous pace.

"This is a marathon, not a sprint. If we let ourselves get exhausted, then it's as good as over." Zeph says to me, "But that doesn't mean we can afford to be slow at all, so we run. Just not with everything we have."

"I'm sure I can handle it…" I whisper with a snarky tone.

"I know _you_ can, but you never got to say everything, right?" He whispers back. "Did Emmett get out before us?" He asks louder.

"We are the last group to leave. Everyone else packed up and left while you were monitoring them further. You did good spotting them coming into the city…" Mom praises us both.

"Actually, Raea spotted them first and I just confirmed it." He claps my shoulder.

Then, about fifteen minutes into this marathon, my ears pick up a noise I was hoping I wouldn't hear. A slight crash from behind us.

I focus to see if they're coming down the tunnel behind us, and sure enough, I hear what sounds like about a dozen fully armed Abstergo agents flood the tunnel entrance behind us and begin at a pace that will overtake us in about ten minutes. I wait to see if the others hear it, but it was just quiet and far away enough that they don't notice it.

I clench my fists conflicted on what to do, if we can get to the end of the tunnel before they overtake us then we should be fine… But I don't know how much time we'll still be in the tunnel for…

"How much longer is the tunnel?" I ask.

"Last time I went this pace it took me forty minutes to get to the end… So probably around another twenty to twenty-five minutes." Mom says, "Which is why we need to pace ourselves; it isn't a walk in the park." She says almost with her chiding tone.

"Why? You obviously aren't tired…" Zeph whispers.

"They're in the tunnel. About ten minutes from now they'll catch up to us." I look at him and take a deep breath.

"You're not going to—" He starts as I stop dead and turn around, "Hey, no. We have to all go together."

"I'm a superhero, remember?" Mom and Aquilo notice us and stop.

"Hey. We don't have time to stop and catch our breath. We need to get out of here. There's no way to tell if Abstergo has already found this tunnel." Mom comes over and grabs my arm roughly before pulling me to continue.

I gently but forcefully pull her hand off of me.

"There is a way to tell. They're already in the tunnel and closing in on us too quickly. I'm going to hold them off." I look at Zeph and Aquilo. "Zeph, you all need to run. As fast as you can."

"Hold them off?" She practically shouts at me, "You have barely had any training and didn't even use the Animus for it." Zeph comes and takes her by the hand.

"It'll be okay, mom." He says as he pulls her to run, then the sound of the heavily armed feet coming echoing down the tunnel.

"Mom." Aquilo says, getting her attention immediately, "Trust her… She can do it. Let's go."

"Raea…" She says, I turn and start walking back the way we came, pulling the mask over my face and tying it tight at the back.

"I'm sorry, mom… I wanted to tell you before I had to show you… But I'll just have to tell you later. Love you all." I look back at her and smile before running at my full speed towards the Templars coming at us.


	19. Secret Tunnel

I stop at a point where I can still have a few minutes to prepare before the Abstergo agents get to me. I examine the tunnel's wall to find that they have not aged well… I look at the supports holding everything up and consider just bringing the whole thing down… But that could cause serious problems for the people above… And if I weren't fast enough, then I would likely have to fight as well, and after manipulating earth like that I'm usually left a little drained.

I opt to simply knock them all out, get to the end of the tunnel, then depending on what the end looks like I'll just bring it down there. It will likely also take less energy for me to collapse just the end of the tunnel rather than only one part in the middle. Also it will be less likely for my to straight up pass out from over doing it with my power.

I lean against the wall, the sounds of stomping getting closer and closer. I glance back down the tunnel. _I hope they make out the other side._ A shout announces their proximity.

Luckily for me, this tunnel isn't very wide. It should be fairly easy to keep them from getting past me, and it will also keep it so that I'm not fighting all of them at once. At once I can handle around seven fully trained people, but as soon as there are more it's harder. Because usually with fully trained people, like Abstergo's agents, they learn to switch in and out to keep each other from getting too exhausted, all while continually exhausting their opponent.

While this tactic takes longer with me… It would work eventually. And I would fall. Maybe not die, but in the case of Abstergo dying is often the more merciful choice.

I hear them come around the bend and they slow down once the leader has seen me leaning against the wall.

"Oh look. One of the Assassin rats is playing the noble hero act. Sacrificing themselves so their dirty rat friends can escape. You must be some kind of sacrificial lamb; they didn't even leave you those goggles they have to help you see in a dark place like this." A couple of the other agents chuckle in response.

"You know what's one thing I dislike about Abstergo?" I ask examining my nails, maybe revelling in my theatrics—just a little.

"As if I want to hear your dirty rat opini—"

"It was a rhetorical question—That means I wasn't really expecting or wanting you to answer—See, I was going to say, I dislike that Abstergo seems to always instill this sense of superiority in its… Sheep? Herd? Hmm… Oh, pups. Yeah, pups. When really, there are things that they don't even bother to explain to you that they know themselves." I step to the middle of the tunnel, "So you all go out into the world to bring the fight to the Assassins… When you don't even understand the tiniest portion of the big picture." I shrug, "But I suppose that puppies wouldn't understand the big picture anyway, they're just too obedient to care." I roll up the sleeves of my hoodie to reveal the hidden blade, "One more thing before I get started." I look at who appears to be leading the rest right in the eyes, "Does it look to you like I'm having trouble seeing in this dark tunnel?"

"Like I said, do I look like I care about your dirty rat—" I launch myself at him faster than he can react, "Opin—" I give him a Sparta kick right to the center of his chest.

I hear the protective equipment inside his protective get-up crack a bit as he careens fifteen feet into the guys behind him, knocking down at least five more of them on the way by and landing squarely on top of two of them.

"Feel free to run. I won't chase you…" I grin at the rest of them as they stare at the unconscious man they had been following.

Two of them, who are now on either side of me launch into a quick succession of attacks with short combat knives. I dip between the swipes and thrusts of the blades as they fail to coordinate with each other in a way that would injure me. Although, when a third guy from the group launches in with his knife he does succeed in making a small amount of contact with me just around my hip. The pain is negligible, but this minor success does cause them all to slow in a premature victory. The window opens for me to attack and I take all three of them down in quick succession with easy and efficient jabs.

The rest of them seem to be frozen in spot so I make quick work of knocking them all out with most of them completely unable to react let alone put up any kind of fight. They're teamwork is abysmal with only two others even trying to go at me together. The rest of them mostly try throwing a couple of flimsy punches.

Apparently, my expectations had been too high… I suspect that the only ones with decent training were the first four guys. And the first guy made it too easy to take advantage of his arrogance, he didn't for a second believe that I could beat all of them. All he was thinking of was beating down the Assassin rats that had given him the slip.

I look over to see one guy sitting against the wall with wide eyes revealed by broken night vision goggles. I get a little closer to him to get some information.

"What was the objective for you lot? Were you just clearing out the Assassins or was there something else you were told to watch out for?"

"L-like you?" He stammers out.

"No. Any specific person, or maybe someone who didn't look like an Assassin."

"No, we were just told to find and kill or capture as many Assassins as possible. Only Captain Hayden had known anything else…" Lies. Not all of it, but definitely that last bit.

"And that's really it?" I take a stomp towards him and he scrambles on all fours against the wall away from me.

"No, I'm sorry! They told us to look for a possible secondary location… Or any clues that could lead to it. But we never found anything…" It seems like that's the full truth.

"Hmm… Okay." I walk away from him.

Once I'm far enough away from him down the dark tunnel, I sprint at my full speed to the end of the tunnel. It doesn't take me long, but by the time I get there the others are not immediately within sight.

I look around to see that I am at a farm just outside of the city, I can see the city's lights on the lower clouds between two smaller mountains. And the tunnel exits into some thick brush by a creek.

Standing in front of the opening that leads to the tunnel, I clear my mind. I focus on moving my power through the earth beneath me to the tunnel's opening and then I clench both of my fists and the earth crumbles around the tunnel, blocking the end should any Abstergo agents make it that far.

"Raea? Is that you?" I whip around to see my mom emerging from some of the brush on the other side of the creek. I slide the mask back down into the fold of the cowl neck and roll the sleeves back down to cover the blade. And I turn myself so that my hip with the small knife wound is facing away from her. She hops across the creek using the larger stones, "What was that light a minute ago? And how did you stop them back there?"

"I… Can I talk to you about it later? It's going to take a lot of time… Where are Lio and Zeph?"

"They went to track down something for us to drive to the site. Venus was stationed there, and I need to see if she's okay." She takes the final steps up to me and brushes my cheek with her thumb, when she pulls away, I see the blood on it.

"It's not mine." I look her in the eye, right now she only shows the love a mother has for her daughter… But she doesn't really know yet… What kind of monster I really am.

Then I go to the small creek's edge and rinse any blood off my knuckles and face. The only part I didn't wash is the cut at my hip. I just tug the bottom of the hoodie over it in effort to not worry my mom.

* * *

The guys come with a four-by-four Land Rover, that apparently had been put there by Zeph earlier in the week. He said, 'I had a feeling that things would change once Raea got here.' And I guess he wasn't wrong.

"I just hope they didn't get the location of the site… It would be best if they just didn't even know about it but…" Mom says, I can hear the concern in her voice, I imagine it's less for keeping that site for the Assassins and more for Vee's safety.

"They know about it. They were supposed to be looking for clues on its location but the wuss I talked to said they hadn't found anything."

"Wuss?" Zeph asks from the back seat. I had traded Zeph for the driver's seat because I don't need the headlights to drive in the dark, and the less we're seen from afar the better. They are all wearing their goggles but my vision having been proven better than theirs I took command of the vehicle.

"Yeah, those Abstergo goons in the tunnel… They were hardly out of training wheels yet… I took down their captain and three put up a decent fight, but when I knocked them down the rest practically gave up… No fight at all. So, wuss."

"Fair enough."

"Did we pass a road sign just then?" Mom asks.

"Yeah."

"Alright, there should be a small opening in the trees on the right. Pretty out of sight…"

"Got it."

"Go in, slowly, it dips down pretty severely right away and then levels out."

"I see it… Ready?" Then we leave the gravel road to go onto an off-roading type path with uneven lumps and bumps.

"Okay, now follow this until we get over the creek, then pull onto the stone rising to the left. It's partially hidden by trees."

"How many times have you taken this path mom?" I ask, usually I wouldn't expect such concise instructions from someone with a less sharp memory than my own.

"Only a few—We usually take a more straightforward route—but I remember this kind of thing easily."

"Huh, neat." I respond honestly, and I spot a small grin form on my mom's face.

Once we stop on the stone landing, we all step out and mom leads us up the creek a ways. The water is a refreshing chill on my feet that were still on the warm side from having channeled my power through them into the earth. At one point the water reaches about halfway up my thighs so I reach down a cup some of the water and splash it on my hip, hoping to get rid of some of the blood there.

"This water is freezing…" Aquilo hisses out between his teeth.

"Better than being followed anywhere." Zeph answers impatiently.

We walk that way for around ten minutes before we reach a stone rise with a little waterfall. The rise only reaches about nine feet up but it's taller than all of us. They make a sort of pyramid and offer for me to go first.

"Save your energy…" I bend down a little and hop up the rise easily, just a slight stinging from my hip as a result. And leaving the rest of them just gaping at me—mom most of all— I then bend down and reach to help them all up. Lio was the last one and I had been worried that he would refuse my help, but he just takes my hand and lets me pull him up. Once he's standing, I expect him almost throw my hand away from him in disgust, but he holds onto it.

"Listen… Raea… I'm sorry… I—" He starts awkwardly, his hand scratching the back of his neck.

"Thank you… But we should wait till we're at this site you all keep talking about." I smile at him, just hearing the 'I'm sorry,' was enough to make me a little happier. Knowing that he doesn't completely abhor me improves me whole mood.

We walk another fifteen minutes over stone cliffs and crags, that would be deemed impassable to hikers at this hour normally. But as I look to the sky, I can see it lightening to that predawn grey to the east already.

"Okay, the site is just over this ridge from here…" Mom says as we approach the ridge, and we all lower ourselves down to the ground to survey the area first. She swaps the goggles for a pair of binoculars presumably outfitted with night vision as well.

I lay down next to them and focus my awareness again.

"There's only one person over there." I announce, and Lio and mom both just look over at me.

"And you already know this, how?" Mom asks.

"Once we're inside I'll explain… To both of you… And Vee of course… I think this will be my biggest audience yet though…" I swallow hard, nerves beginning to fray at the thought of having to answer the plethora of questions sure to come my way.

We all head down the slope to a cave entrance hidden by vegetation. Aquilo goes in first, then mom, who leads me, followed by Zephyr. The first whole area of the cave looks empty, a normal cave. Complete with the echoing sounds of dripping water. Then as we come to a dead end I get a little confused until Zeph grins at me and runs towards the wall. I get ready to laugh at him for dead running into a stone wall, but at the last second he drops down and expertly slides through a gap between the cave wall and floor hidden by the way the stones sit. Aquilo follows him, then I go, with mom following to bring up the tail. We follow the cave a few more bends— with some side tunnels branching off from the path we take— before some lights begin to show around the next corner.

Once we get to the lit area, I look around to see what is set up to be something of a camp space. With industrial looking lamps set up around the area and a sort of generator in the corner humming away. There is a spot with some camp chairs in a circle around a small heater, with a wooden platform hosting some cots and one more heater.

Zeph and Lio both stand at the edge of it looking around for Venus I suppose… Little do they realize where she is. I keep my eyes looking around the space to avoid alerting them to her location.

They take a few more steps, they'll be in range soon… Then as Lio turns around to look back at us, she strikes. Landing right on him and knocking him to the ground.

"My point this time." She says victoriously as she stands up and offers a hand to help him up. Once he's standing they both hug and Zeph gets in on it as well. Then mom strides into the space, "Mom… I was so worried about you all… When I didn't hear from you at all when I was supposed to— Then total radio silence… There were some people poking around in the beginning area of the cave, but they didn't see the gap."

"Abstergo found our hideout, so we've moved to here for the time being." Mom says professionally, "I'm really glad they didn't find you." She says as her whole body relaxes while pulling Venus into a hug, which is when Venus notices me.

"You really are here! I never thought this would be something you'd be a part of…" Vee walks over to me and gives me the biggest hug of them all, and I hug her back, "I bet this has been really rough the last little while, huh?"

"Yeah… But probably not for the reasons you're imagining…" I release her from the hug, and she makes a confused face.

"But that can wait until we've all had a little rest… I don't know about you lot, but I'm completely exhausted." Mom announces to us all. I mouth 'thank you' to her.

"Since I'm probably the only one that got any real rest, I'll keep watch near the gap for now." Vee volunteers already walking in the direction of the exit of the cave system.

"Thanks…" I say to mom as Lio and Zeph argue over which cot is theirs.

"I know you'll come through with an explanation, but I want to be all ears. And with how tonight has been… I just can't give you the attention you deserve to have for what is surely a fascinating explanation." She confesses as she walks over to the cots arranged on a wooden platform. I follow her over and place my bag down next to the cot dubbed as my own, then I pull off the hoodie and the mask comes with it clattering across the platform.

Mom picks it up and just stares at it for a while before gently brushing her fingers over the smoothed metal areas around the eyes. Then she looks at me with a sort of disbelief in her eyes, then it deepens to shock as she takes in the blade on my wrist. I pull it off and pass it to her silently. And she just marvels at the objects in her hands.

"Later. Sleep first." She says passing them both back to me, Aquilo just watching from his cot and Zeph already snoring on his. Then she spots my hip and comes over to examine it.

"Why didn't you say anything?" She berates me for hiding the small cut on my hip that has mostly healed already.

"I'm fine." I simply answer, placing a hand on her shoulder. Before she goes back to her cot.

"Explanations later." She repeats before laying down.

"Good night… I love you…" I say almost with a broken voice, she smiles warmly.

"I love you, too, my Raea." She closes her eyes, then I see Aquilo roll over to have his back to the rest of us.

I lay down on my cot and close my eyes. It takes a while to calm my thoughts and my nerves but eventually I fall asleep.

But it isn't a restful sleep. The sleep I have is full of memories and whispers calling out to me from the shadows. Whispers full of ancient words in long dead voices.

* * *

_Astr…_

_Ast… raea…_

_Astraea…_

_ASTRAEA!_

I fly up in my cot but impact with something stops me and sends me right back down to laying position. A bit of pain in my forehead makes me realize I hit my head… But on what? There's nothing above me.

"Errghhhh…" I hear from the ground next to me, I sit up slowly and look over to see Aquilo, squatting on the ground cradling his head between his arms…

"Dude… I heard that one on the other side of the cave… I think it may have echoed. Are you okay?" Zeph comes over and kneels next to his twin,

"Yeah…" Aquilo squeezes out in a very strained voice as he rocks on the balls of his feet holding his head. Then it hits me as to what happened.

"Were you trying to wake me up?" I ask him as I turn myself to be sitting on the side of the cot and reach my hand out to put it on his shoulder. Then I stop part way there, remembering him dodging what I intended to be a comforting hand, and I bring my hand back to my lap.

"Yeah… You seemed like you were having a nightmare…" He slowly stands up.

"I'm sorry…"

"No, I know how I am when I get woken up suddenly and I should have taken that into account… But seriously. _What_ is your head _made_ of?" He rubs his head where a sizable goose-egg is now forming.

"Bone…"

"Not like any bone I've ever felt…" He comments.

"I'm a _little_ more durable than most people are…"

"No kidding…" He begins to walk away.

"Thank you…" I say causing him to pause and look back.

"Don't mention it." Then he lays back down on his cot with his back facing out. Zeph sits down on the bed next to me.

"He's trying. He really is." Zeph says as he places his hand on top of where my hands are clenched together.

"I know." _Ast…_ I look over to where the cave forms into another curving tunnel, did I hear something over there? I didn't notice that tunnel last night…

"Earth to Astraea… Do you read me?" Zeph waves a hand in front of me.

"Uh… Yeah… Sorry, I thought I heard something… Must've imagined it." I shake my head a little bit, this place makes me feel strange, "Anyway… What were you saying?"

"I was saying that I was about to trade watch with Vee, but if you're awake, do you want to?" Zephyr offers, I can see the extensive bags under his eyes.

"Yeah, I've rested enough already." I say as I stand up.

"Are you sure?" He asks barely keeping his eyes open.

"I'll be fine. You on the other hand look like the walking dead. Go back to sleep." I point at his cot and he just nods before walking back over to his cot flopping down and seconds later the snores resume.

I stand up and walk over to the shadowed area where the gape in the wall is to relieve Venus.

"Hey," I say as I approach making sure to keep my eyes angled slightly away from her, "You ready to get some sleep?" She whips her head around and I can already see similar bags under her eyes as Zeph's.

"But you've barely gotten four hours of sleep since you all got here." She weakly argues.

"I'm fine. I slept most of the evening before Zeph and I went on watch earlier." I shrug and she nods, standing up before walking past me and handing over the night vision goggles before shuffling around the corner to the where the cots are.

And so I just sit in the dark space, literally watching the wall.

I lose track of time thinking of all the ways telling my family can go wrong… I'd had so long to plan out how I was going to do this—But I hadn't accounted for such a drastic change of circumstances—With this my plan has had to shift so completely that I don't know where to begin anymore.

Then I hear the steps of Zephyr coming towards me.

"You know… We still need to think of a superhero name for you…" He puts a hand to his chin as he arrives with one of the little lanterns in hand barely casting enough light for him to see, then he sits down beside me.

"Nah, I don't need one of those… Plus, all the good ones are taken anyway." I shrug.

"I'm sure we could come up with something good…" He jokes.

"Not on your life." I quip seriously at him as I hold up the goggles to him and grin.

"Vee didn't even make you put them on, eh? Goes to show how tired she was." He pauses for a minute, "Me too… Because apparently it has now been ten hours since you took over watch." He scratches the back of his head.

"Wow, I hadn't even realized that much time had gone by…" I comment.

"Vee was tired enough that she couldn't remember who had, so now Mom thinks that I did take over for Vee, I managed to get Lio in on it to say he took over for me, and you took over for him." He says barely over a whisper, "If mom knew that you just spent ten hours over here on four hours of sleep she would tear all our heads off." He motions a noose being pulled around his neck.

"Well, soon she'll be of as privileged in information as you and will know that I am completely fine on four hours of sleep." I pat his shoulder.

"On that note… They are all awake now… And mom sent me over to get you for your explanation… I hope you used those ten hours wisely…" Zephyr informs me.

My nerves are suddenly back in full force, which is only being made worse by how wired this place is making me feel.

"Well, apparently I didn't use the last ten thousand years wisely in that regard so…" I shrug to fake being calm, which I can already see he doesn't buy.

Zeph stands and then holds his hand out towards me.

"Come on… It'll be okay. Just take it a slowly as you need to. I'll help when I can."

"Alright…" I take his hand and he pulls me up and then drags me along to sit with the rest of them, the only ones of our family missing are dad and Nyx.

"Aquilo…" He looks at me, "I'm sorry. I… I should've been able to think of a better way to handle it with you… I hope that you can forgive me in time…"

"No… I didn't let you explain anything. I just goaded you into fighting harder, then I ran away." He says before looking down at his feet and clenching his fists at his sides.

"I did let the goading get to me… So you aren't entirely to blame…" I counter and he looks up and give a small smile, it may not be total forgiveness for being a monster, but I'll take what I can get.

"Am I the only one totally lost here?" Vee pipes up.

"Don't worry, I'm feeling pretty lost." Mom answers beside her sounding supremely unimpressed.

"Get used to it. I'm still feeling lost and I'm supposed to be one of the people in the know." Zeph shrugs.

"Yeah… I got a bit of an explanation in the Animus but…" Lio begins.

"A bit? You call that four-hour discussion I had with that man 'a bit?'" I ask incredulously, and Lio just shrugs. Then it occurs to me what a violation of privacy the Animus is… It makes me glad I have no descendants to view _my_ memories.

"I never got the answer for 'how,' only 'what' and a very vague sense of 'when.'" He counters.

"Okay… Fine. But it wasn't only a bit. You've probably got more information on it than Zeph does." I resign that I didn't give Ezio those answers anyway.

"Yeah… All I got was a little flight to cover whatever could get squeezed in." Zeph sulks a little in his chair.

"Still really lost." Vee says defeated sinking into the camping chair.

"I guess… First. I want you to know… That you've always been my family. Everything I did… _Everything_. I did it to get to the point where I could be with you again. And… I love you… All." I start.

"Jeez… Corny start Raea." Zeph teases and receives a stiff punch to the arm from me in response.

"Of course, Raea… But why say that now? We all know how much you love us. You've never hidden it from us." Mom says, and she's right. I never hid how precious they were to me.

"Because… I've been hiding something. Ever… Ever since… The ferry incident."

"What? Did you get brain damage or something? A permanent injury?" Venus sits forward rapidly almost tipping her seat.

"Nothing so… Ordinary… That would have been a lot easier to break news-wise." I answer.

"No kidding…" Zeph says, I play punch his shoulder and he just grins.

"The day of the incident…" I take a deep breath, "I never came back out of the water." I look down, doubting whether I'm handling this right? What if they all, even Zeph, see me as a monster after this?

 _Astr…_ I look over to the tunnel and its gaping darkness.

"Astraea? Are you okay?" Zeph asks me.

"Sorry… I just… I keep hearing whispers. This place is strange."

"Don't say that now! I've been here alone trying to convince myself that that isn't the case every night!" Vee says as she hugs herself, "But, hey! No escaping the question! How is that possible? You definitely were found on that tiny island by those sailors…"

"Well, _I_ was found on that island yes… But _I_ am not the same Astraea that fell into the sea that day." Out of nervousness my gestures begin to get more elaborate as I speak and Zeph elbows me.

"You are plenty _our_ Astraea." He says, "Your—"

"Expressions, emotions, humour, attitude, and the way you love us… You _are_ Astraea." Aquilo interrupts, his expression saying 'I'm sorry' when our eyes meet. For a moment, my nervousness ebbs away.

"Okay, I'm glad you two seem to be past whatever was hanging over you both yesterday… But what did happen then? Obviously, you didn't drown." Mom says to get us back on track while gesturing to all of me.

"You remember what the doctor said about how I didn't have amnesia despite the reports from the ferry's crew saying I had hit my head against the side of the ship?" I ask her.

"Yes, you said that you never actually hit your head."

"That was a lie… I did hit my head… Extremely hard on the ship's hull. And I did have amnesia. For a _very_ long time. But by the time I got back here it was long healed."

"What do you mean by 'by the time I got back here?'" Vee asks, I can hear the concern colouring her words.

"First, I had been pulled away from the ferry further into the stormy area. Then a wave pushed me under the water, and I sank." I see my mom's hand clench. _This is why I don't want to tell her_ , _but there's no going back now,_ "I fell unconscious. And when I came to, I was on a beach… Then the most beautiful people I'd ever seen asked me who I was… And I couldn't answer them. I didn't know."

"So, what? You ended up with pretty people and they cured your amnesia? This is sounding completely unbelievable. You weren't gone _that_ long." Vee stand and bursts out, before settling back down.

"It might not have been long for you… But for me, it was… Quite a bit longer."

"Understatement of the year." Zeph says under his breath, which earns a glare from Vee. God, I missed them all so much.

"How could it have been longer for you than us? Because believe me… It was no walk in the park while you were missing." She says, I can see the tears in her eyes.

"Because it wasn't a matter of _where_ I woke up. Because the beautiful people weren't human. They…" My voice cracks, "They were Astraeus and Eos. They were Isu."

 _Astraea…_ My head whips around to see the dark tunnel, only I see a flash of light for a fraction of a second. I stand up and watch the tunnel.

Then I feel warmth at my hand, I look to see my mom holding my hand. I sit back down.

"How is that possible, Astraea? The Isu have been gone for millennia. They never recovered after the Catastrophe." Mom says, very logically. Unfortunately, I have no such logical answer to give her.

"I wish I knew… It was something that even _they_ weren't able to really figure out. They manage to suss out a 'what happened' but never a 'how.' Minerva, Jupiter, Astraeus, Eos, Hermes, Poseidon, and even Hephaestus. None of them could ever find an answer to how, all they could do was tell me that I wasn't an Isu. But… That I wasn't quite a human either. And because I had no memories, I had never known that I had once been a human."

"And so, what? You've lived all this time? Between then and now? As if." Venus says, anger beginning to form in her words. I feel an elbow from Zeph, and he rolls up his sleeves. My jaw drops, that was _not_ something I ever wanted Mom nor Venus to ever see and I shake my head at him.

"It might be the only way." He says, "But maybe the whole overshirt…" I take a breath in… Then I stand up, put my hands at the bottom of my shirt, and then begin to tug up.


	20. Show and Tell

"Woah, woah… We don't need to see you strip; we know you've lost your extra weight." Venus says and I hesitate to continue… _I'm afraid…_

"No, this is something you should see. You'll be able to _see_ that she's not lying to you." Zeph says firmly, I hold onto the camisole underneath with one hand and pull the long-sleeved shirt off. I wait to hear the gasp of my mom, or of Venus. But neither of them make a sound.

"Don't think _this_ will just _make_ me believe you." She says to Zeph and me as she stands up and comes over to me, "These all look older than just a couple of years, which can't be the case because I know that less than two years ago during our trip she didn't have _any_ of these. You must have had someone put makeup on her for this gag of yours…" She says as she reaches out and takes my arm in her hand and runs her hand over the surface of my skin. She rubs at a couple of the larger scars as though to rub them away like makeup. That's when she gasps, and she grabs my other arm and tries the same with a few of the larger ones, with the same result. She rubs with enough force that the body I had before would have bruised.

"If it were that easy, I wouldn't have had to wear long-sleeved shirts this whole time." I same quietly to her. Her crystalline blue eyes look up to meet mine.

"This one?" She points to the one that caught Zeph's attention the first time he saw it.

"Saved an orphan from getting cut down by a sword… The guy called me a demon because he didn't end up chopping my hand off." I answer, Zeph snorts.

"You didn't mention that part when I asked…" He chuckles, Venus picks up my right hand and points to the three-inch one that gave me away to Kiyoshi.

"What about this one?"

"I stopped a young Kiyoshi from getting killed by a rival gang." Her jaw drops a little.

"He told me about what happened then… He told me once that that incident is one of the reasons he fights so steadfastly for the Brotherhood now…" Venus says.

Then mom comes over and she moves her hands between a few scars from bullets that I got some thirty-five years ago.

"That was you…" She whispers barely loud enough to hear, "I wondered when I saw the mask… But now I'm sure." She pulls me into a hug, "San Antonio, 1984. An abandoned Abstergo warehouse in the middle of the night." She says as she steps back. Abandoned Abstergo warehouse in San Antonio? In 1984… But how could she know that's when… I gasp a little and cover my mouth.

"That was you, mom?" I remember jumping between gunfire and an Assassin whose cell had been ambushed searching an old Abstergo warehouse. I hadn't intended on going inside but my gut had been practically screaming at me to intervene and save the Assassins inside.

"Not just me… I had been pregnant with Nyx at the time… You saved both of us." We all sit back down, "You had been like a phantom, there blocking the bullets from hitting me one moment and then in a flash faster than I could see, all the Abstergo agents were down. Then you just vanished. Bill often said that if he hadn't seen it himself, he would never have believed it."

"Bill?" I ask her.

"William Miles. He had just become my brother-in-law and had led our cell to that location. But your actions also made my decisions possible. I'd had the leverage to ask to temporarily leave the Brotherhood to raise my family because Bill had given me the credit for saving the rest of the cell. But if you hadn't acted that night… None of you would even be here."

"And apparently ensured the existence of Desmond Miles… Thereby making sure the world would continue to exist." I add to the list…

"Wow… Kudos." Aquilo says giving an impressed nod.

"Like I said. Superhero." Zeph adds, the rest chuckle at his comment. I roll my eyes at him, "What? It's true. Now you really can't deny it. You ensured to continuation of the world be saving a man whose kid saved the world. Also your family… Uncle and Cousin."

"Right… If William Miles is your brother-in-law… That means he is dad's brother. Making Desmond Miles— who is something of a historical landmark— my cousin. Strange…"

"You're one to talk." Venus jokes.

It takes hours—likely the better part of the day. Between mom, Venus, Zeph, and Lio the questions seemed never ending. We jumped between so many topics of the explanation that I think they now have a fairly solid, if rudimentary, understanding of my story to this point. Compared to what Yusuf once knew they barely know anything at all, but when compared to almost everyone I've known in the last five hundred years… They have a practically encyclopedic knowledge.

"Raea…" Aquilo says, the first time he's used my nickname since our sparring match, I look over at him, "I'm sorry… I didn't give you the chance to explain yourself after our match… Zeph told me that it had been his idea because he was fairly sure I wouldn't listen if you just told me… And he was probably right. But I didn't—"

"Lio… Like I said, I shouldn't have let your goading get to me… I didn't have to let you feel what I made you feel at the end. I was just losing my patience because you kept trying to win. So, really, not completely your fault."

"That is so you, my Raea." Mom says before laughing a little, "You always try to take more than your share of any blame. You have also always been quick to bear your burdens completely alone. Never asking for help from anyone. But always the first to offer help to someone you love. And I'm sorry it took me so long to realize that… It was because of those tendencies that you lost interest in everything we had been teaching you. Perhaps if I had been more observant of you, I could have helped you through your struggles better."

"That also hasn't changed. She wasn't going to tell us at all." Zeph pipes up.

"Really? Why?" Vee asks, "What did you think we would do? Send you away?"

"Well, I can't say that hasn't crossed my mind… I've been called a lot of things over the years… Demon, monster, cursed… I guess I was worried you'd think the same of me… I wasn't planning on telling any of you for a couple of decades until the point when my unchanging appearance started to get your attention." I answer while looking between each of them, "The reason was partially to protect you all from _this_ , the Assassins and the Templars both."

"Oh? We needed protecting, did we?" Mom asks crossing her arms.

"Hey, to be fair, I had no idea that you were all already Assassins." I hold both of my arms up in surrender.

"That is true… Sorry." Mom says.

"No it's okay, I know you only did it to protect me. And honestly… You would have been right… The person I was before all this would not have handle any of it very well." I confess. Then Lio stands up and walks over to me, and he takes my right hand. He leans towards it and holds his fingers over the ring from Yusuf. Mom then stands up and leaves the circle of chairs to the cooler of snacks that is next to the power generator.

"Raea… I'm so sorry." He says before leaning in and hugging me even stronger than his last hug. I put my arms around him and hug him back.

"You saw all of Ezio's memories with me?" I ask him.

"Yeah…" He answers.

"Even… Masyaf?" I continue.

"… Yes." He answers slower before giving a tighter squeeze and releasing me before sitting back down. I wonder if that was what had changed his mind about me… Although… If he hadn't seen it, I wouldn't have told him about it. And I hope that as few people as possible saw it.

"Okay… What am I missing this time?" Vee asks.

"Ezio's memories? Do you mean what you were working until the Abstergo raid?" Mom asks Lio as she comes back with water bottles to pass around.

"Yeah… It must have been her being reintroduced to our life as she is… But it altered Ezio's memories in my DNA. Probably all of ours… Anyway, I followed them all the way through, because we were trying to figure out if the woman there was like the Sage… Evidently that's not the case." Lio answers.

"Evidently… Does anyone else know about you?" Mom asks me.

"You guys, Emmett… For reasons. And Kiyoshi… Because he recognized me."

"And Rebecca because she was running the memories for me." Lio adds.

"Oh… Well. Rebecca too." I add. Silvija comes to mind but I don't bring her up, she doesn't need to be brought further into this than she already is, especially since it took so long to get Abstergo off her case in the first place.

"You know you'll have to tell your father at some point…" Mom adds to the end of the discussion. I take a deep breath in.

"Yup… I'm aware… Still trying to figure that out… I didn't exactly plan to have this all out in the open so… Soon. I had been hoping for a couple of decades with my family… Peaceful, not getting involved with the Assassins or the Templars—But hey… I guess plans are made to be utterly destroyed."

"I don't think that's how the saying goes…" Zeph quips.

 _Astra… ea…_ A quick flash of light from the tunnel that disappears deeper into the caves draws my eye again, then I feel my brain get foggy for a moment.

"Well, I think we could all use a while to process information, yeah?" Zeph says before standing up and stretching. Bringing me back to myself.

"Yeah…" I say before standing up and walking away from the circle of chairs and Lio follows me over to the cots where I sit down. He sits down next to me.

"I really am sorry… I… I saw how… In Masyaf… I saw Ezio find you…" I reach over and pull my bag to me; I reach in and pull out the little painting that's getting more attention in the last couple of weeks than it did for four-hundred years. I pass it over to him and he just looks at it warmly. Then I fish out the ring that had once been on Yusuf's hand from my shirt and place it next the painting in his hand.

"Ezio… Had found me there and pulled me out of the darkness that had been closing in on me again. He helped me hold onto the light that Yusuf had given me. Also… I'm really sorry you had to deal with seeing the memories in Venice. That isn't a time I look upon fondly… I had been in a dark place, easily darker than after Yusuf's death. I had been suffering betrayals and human hatred for so long that I couldn't find the strength to keep caring. All of that happening made me only more worried about there only being five hundred years before seeing you again… Only five hundred years to figure out how to try to be myself again. My time with Leonardo had helped me see what I was becoming… And I didn't like it. So I made a lot of effort to try to be human again through drawing and Ezio…"

"You really thought that sex was the answer?" He asks humorously.

"Well… Maybe I did… For the record it didn't work… Not with Ezio anyway…"

"WHAT?!" Vee shouts as she drops down onto the platform in front of us, "You had sex with Ezio Auditore?! Do you realize how fucked up that is?! He is LITERALLY our ancestor!" Vee shouts at me.

"Well, I didn't know that now, did I?" She opens her mouth to continue and raises her index finger at me, but no words come out, "Yeah. So to me? He was a charming, handsome man who wanted to spend time with me. Plus, like I said… It didn't work so it was literally only once."

"You also said it like it did work with someone though… Who was it? Were _they_ related to us? Hmm?" She interrogates, but with a large smile. The one she always wore if I ever told her that I was having a crush on someone, since it happened so rarely.

"I'm reasonably sure that no… He is not. Unless we're somehow related to Emmett too."

"So he's one of Emmett's ancestors! Who is it, huh?" She waggles her eyebrows at me. And I look at the painting still in Lio's hands, which he then passes to Vee after I nod at him. She takes the painting and gasps, "Isn't this Yusuf Tazim? The one who had been leading the Istanbul Brotherhood until…" She pauses then looks at me and leaps a hug at me, "Oh, Raea… I'm so sorry…" I reach my arms around her and hug her back.

"Raea?" Mom stops at the edge of the wooden platform area.

"Yeah?" I ask her as Venus steps back a little to let me stand.

"I want to get your opinion on something…"

"Oh, are you going to take her to the entrance?" Vee asks, suddenly particularly interested. Entrance?

"Yes. We've been trying to puzzle out what this place needs to open… We've gotten no answers." Mom answers before going on about some puzzle.

"This place?"

"It'll be easier to show you, it's this way." She points to where the voice has been calling me from and definitely the source of the strange feeling I've had since getting here.

"Okay…"

"You can all come too, since you're obviously not interested at all…" She says to Lio and Vee, and apparently Zeph who was listening in from across the room.

We then walk towards the tunnel leading into the dark, mom turns on a flashlight and leads the way. The entire trek is full of twists and turns. We go through several points where the tunnels branch off in several different directions. The network of tunnels seeming more and more like a labyrinth, but mom steadfastly and efficiently leads us through each turn. Although, every turn she chooses is a tunnel that has a warm glow just around the corner until we arrive, then it's as if the glow vanished. Every turn mom leads us down follows this glowing light… But by the way the rest are using their flashlights, I don't think they can see the same glow I can. The warm glow coloured like a summer sunset.

_Astraea… Astr…_

The further in we go the more dominant the voice calling me is, but like with the glowing, no one else seems to react to it. So I try not to react to it… That is until I hear the voice as though it's whispering right into my ear.

I jump to the side and look at the plain stone wall of the cave's tunnel.

"What? Did you see something?" Zeph asks, as I had apparently hopped almost on top of him.

"No… I thought I heard something, must've just been an echo." I shrug and we continue along behind mom, then the edges of the tunnel split away from us and we enter into a huge cavern in the shape of a perfect dome. The tell-tale shimmers running along ridges in the walls show that it is an Isu creation. They all stop at the edges of the space and I just wander towards the middle, I look to the ground and see where the cave's rough floor gives way to the impeccably smooth floor of Isu construction, where the shimmering lights flow also flow through the grooves. I stop to admire it for a moment.

"Can you guys get working on turning the lights on?" Mom instructs the rest, "It's beautiful, isn't it? We found the almost a year ago, right after our trip to Greece. It took about five months of exploration to find this place though…" Mom says as she walks up to me, "Come on, I'll show you what we found at the other side…" She takes my hand, and we walk onto the smooth circular floor area.

The moment my foot makes contact with the floor, the entire space comes to life. Instead of the soft blue light of a sleeping Isu construction, the light shifts to the typical vibrant gold. The gold spread across the floor from where mom and I stepped on, and then from the bottom of the walls upward until the whole dome is lit with the warm golden light. The dome now boasting a perfect recreation of the night sky's stars.

At the crown of the dome is a symbol I haven't seen for a painfully long time. My hand covers my mouth as it drops open. The symbol of the dawn and the dusk… The symbol that Astraeus and Eos shared.

"Holy shit!" Zeph exclaims from the left side of the room where he is holding a handful of cables.

"Wow…" Vee gapes at the dome.

"Do we still need to turn on the lights?" Lio asks wryly.

"Apparently not… What did you do?" Mom turns and asks me.

"What did I do? It never did this before?"

"If it did, we would never had needed lights…" She points around at the lights that are placed around the base of the dome pointing at the walls and the floor. As well as what appears to be an Isu console at the opposite end of the rotunda space.

"Well, I don't know what I did… But I know that I do have an energy signature similar to Isu… Different enough that some of them wouldn't treat me well, but similar enough that Astraeus and Eos effectively adopted me."

"You were _adopted_ by the Isu?" Vee's jaw drops as she catches up to mom and me.

"Yeah… It had been Astraeus and Eos who found me on the beach… But I didn't have any memories…"

"Right, you mentioned that bit." Venus nods.

"Yeah, so they helped me heal, hoping that my memories would come back… But days turned into months, months into years… Then the years turned into decades… Whole families evolved, and I never changed. So they adopted me and did their best to find out what exactly I was."

"Wow." She breathes.

"Although, I don't remember them ever building this… But I really hope it is what I think it might be…" I remark as I kneel down and slide my fingers over the ridges that are now lit in the smooth stone floor.

"Wait… So Astraeus and Eos built this?"

"Yeah, that's their symbol up there," I point to the crown of the dome, "That symbol was all over their home, clothes, and other belongings. There are also the symbols of their children, the larger ones in the stars," I gesture to the symbols marking the 'wandering stars,' "And the four winds, of course." I point to the base of the dome about ten feet off the ground at each cardinal direction; with each direction connected by undulating swirls to symbolize wind.

"Yes, we named each of you after one of the children of Astraeus and Eos from Greek mytho—" Mom starts, "Um… Astraea? Are you saying I named you after yourself?" A few muffled snorts come from my siblings around the room and I just look at my mother.

"Yep… You definitely did." Then the snorts turn to laughter and I canter to the other side of the room, _could this be it?_

Dike and I had searched for so long… Searched for the last gift that Athena had told us about. They had never even told Dike where it was, let alone that they were building it. She had been in the dark until she brought me to Athena after retrieving me from the remains of Ilios' lab. _Could this be what Athena said Astraeus and Eos built?_

I get to the console to find that it isn't a console, just a message. A riddle.

_Ugh… Athena obviously had a hand in the design of it, even if she didn't directly help build it._

And judging by that this riddle is either easier than it lets on… Or stupidly difficult… I suppose it would depend on what Athena's mood was. Unfortunately, it sounds as though it has been keyed for me specifically, so it's likely that even if they could read it my family likely won't be able to help. Fortunately, that would also mean that should anyone else have ever found this place previously they wouldn't have been able to gain entry.

For all I know this riddle could be solved simply by staying in this space for a specific amount of time…

"So can you use the console here at all to do anything?" Mom eagerly asks.

"Unfortunately, not. It isn't a console at all… It's just a riddle. One clearly directed at me, but it's hard to explain." I say.

"Surely you could let us help, right? Just do your best." Zeph says as he leans against the wall by the pedestal hosting the riddle.

"Well… Something about placement… Or locations… Uh… Designated location perhaps. Hmm… Sorry, Zeph. That's the best I can do. I'm guessing this riddle has been made with me in mind specifically. If I had to hazard a guess, it was Athena's idea to make sure that no one but me could enter this… Whatever it is."

"Jeez… Exclusive access to a multi-millennia old Isu cave. Membership has its privileges, I guess?" Lio says, "What makes you think they only want you to open it?"

"The top of the pedestal bears the symbol they used for me…" I brush my fingers over the etched and glowing surface of the pedestal, where my symbol of stars inside of Astraeus and Eos' dusk and dawn.

"You said the one up there is the symbol for Astraeus and Eos… So what is it doing here?" Venus asks pointing to how theirs is encircling mine.

"My guess is that they were saying 'Our Astraea.'" I look at the symbol and smile. I haven't even gotten to the inside and they're already reminding me how much I meant to them. I wish… I had gotten a real chance to say goodbye to them. "Guys… Do you mind if I get a little time alone…" My mom puts her hand on my back for a second and then stands.

"Of course… We'll just be back in the main area." I hear them go and when I look, I am indeed alone.

I allow myself a few minutes to just sit in the room, admiring all the work that must have gone into it. And letting myself grieve for all that was lost. While I know that it had to happen for the world as I had known it to come to life, it still hurt to have to everything wrenched from my hands so suddenly… Ilios had put me in the stasis chamber before the catastrophe. By the time Dike had found me the world had already been well on its way to being rebuilt with the few remaining Isu heralding the way for the humans, and I hadn't had a chance to say goodbye to Astraeus, Eos, or any of my adoptive brothers or sisters. Not before they had passed into the fogs of legend.

Every minute I spend in here, I am more convinced that this really is the vault that Athena had said they built for me. Which spurs me out of my small slump and into exploring the domed space.

* * *

"Hello?" I hear from below; my heart starts beating quicker.

 _I'm flying right now. And I didn't tell them I could do that._ I look and see Venus entering the space and look around. I let myself sink slowly behind her and lightly land about ten feet away from her back.

"Hey, Vee," I say as I take a few loping steps to her.

"Sweet mother of Jesus!" She says as she turns around, "God… You startled me. That hasn't happened since we were kids; and you would do that all the time!" She comes up to me and ruffles my hair.

"Wow, you're right… I _did_ do that all the time, didn't I?" I remember all those times I just happened to see her coming along and I hid to spring out at her. The hiding in nearly plain sight always seemed to come so naturally to me… I guess now I know why.

" _All the time._ " She reiterates. Then we sit down on a boulder at the edge of the room, "I've brought you something to eat… Have you made any progress on getting in?" She looks around the inside of the dome, the constellations all shimmering with the golden light and sets a bag down next to us.

"A little… I still can't decide if Athena was trolling me with a stupidly simple riddle or if it's as hard as I'm making it feel…" I dig into the bag and snack on the food she brought, not realizing that I had even been hungry.

"Well, in mythology, riddles _were_ kind of Athena's thing."

"Yeah… That they did not exaggerate. Also she was an amazing warrior and tactician. She actually was one of the Isu who helped me learn to fight then."

"I… I still am not really sure what to think of it all honestly…" Venus confesses.

"That's okay… It's a lot for anyone really… I don't expect you to be able to deal with it right out of the gate. Take as long as you need. Do you want me to not talk about it?" She just sits on the boulder and thinks about it for a minute.

"No… I don't think that will really help… Actually, I think if you talk with me about it more openly, like just now, it might get easier to understand." She leans against me resting her head on my shoulder and I lean my head on hers.

"Okay. Is there anything you want to hear about specifically?" She hums and haws a little bit but eventually she decides on something… And maybe something I wasn't terribly keen on talking about.

"So… How _did_ you meet Ezio?"

"Uh…" She giggles at me.

"The Raea I took on that trip to Italy could barely even hold conversation with men, and here I find that you actually went and had sex with Ezio Auditore. Who, I would like to note, I've only ever seen in the mirror while living his memories. And… Damn. He may have taken a while to settle into being a man, but _damn_ … A man he certainly became."

"So, what you're telling me, is that you went all shame-mode… Out of jealousy?" I tease and she sits right up and faces me.

"Alright, but seriously! He was good-looking once he grew up."

"Can't argue there…" I shrug, "Anyway… I had been modelling for and drawing with Leonardo—"

"Da Vinci?" Her jaw pops open.

"Yes. Da Vinci. Anyway, he had told me that he would be leaving his studio in Venice for one in Monteriggioni. Which… I didn't take well… I had been in a very dark place and I had been trying to find a way to feel human again. Drawing with Leonardo had brought art back into my life… I had almost forgotten how much drawing meant to me, and Leonardo had been helping me remember. So when I heard that he was planning to leave… I… Maybe lashed out a bit and left suddenly."

"You stormed out on Leonardo da Vinci?"

"Yeah… Like I said… A dark place. I had just been looking for a light. And it felt like Leonardo had given me a candle and the middle of the night. But I was afraid that if I wasn't with him the drawing might stop… I feared that maybe that candle would burn out and I wouldn't have any replacement to keep the light with me. That once I wasn't spending time doing art with him, that I would sink back into the darkness I was finally learning to let go."

"Oh… That actually makes a lot of sense… I remember that after mom and dad first told me about all this Assassin and Templar stuff, I had felt so small… It felt like the world I had known was just this little dollhouse with cute little furniture and fake everything. I felt alone in the dark. But I remember what helped me get past it all…"

"Oh?" I invite her to continue.

"It was you. I had gone out with you to some of the trails near Banff. Just one of the little hikes that ends with a lovely view. And at the end, even though your face was red with how much effort it took you to get to the top, because you had been bigger then, you still had the most awe-struck expression. The beauty of nature there took your breath away, and you just lived in that moment. It was then that I had realized that even if perhaps we had been living in this sheltered space made by our parents, that _we_ were _real._ You were real. That day really helped me get past feeling small and hopeless in the world of the Assassins. That day made me feel like I had something worth protecting by being in this world." She just kind of sits there, I had never known she had been feeling like that then… I could tell she'd had a lot on her mind, but I had no idea the scope of it, until now. "Anyway… Continue. Ezio hasn't made an appearance yet."

"Well… Leonardo was friends with Ezio, who had already come to the city to help him move, so Leonardo asked if Ezio could find me to make sure I was okay after I stormed out."


	21. Gifted Sanctuary

I regaled Vee with tales of Leonardo's last week in Venice. She had been hoping for more details on Ezio… But alas I could not satisfy her desires. It was during this time that she told me that what I had thought to be a couple of hours had in fact been closer to fourteen. Which is why she had gone to the trouble of _bringing_ food to me… Because, apparently, I had shown no sign of coming back to eat. After I told her about my time in Venice, she asked me about Yusuf.

This was a more difficult topic, but it was one that after we spoke about it for a while, I began to feel lighter… Like I had after talking with Emmett. Telling her about him kept bringing up more and more memories of my time with him. It had been so short, but to me it is one of the brightest periods of my time.

"I wish I could've had a chance to meet the man who so completely stole your heart. I've wanted to feel love like that since we were kids and I saw mom and dad helping each other, not just because they were married but because of how much they love each other." Venus confesses.

"I wish you could've met him too… I did tell him as much as I could about all of you though. He wanted to meet you too."

"It's strange to think that a Master Assassin from the sixteenth century wanted to meet me. I didn't even exist yet…"

"You think it's weird that someone wanted to meet you then, I still think it's weird that I ended up this way…" I confess to her.

"I'm not sure that I find it all _that_ weird… I always knew you were special. I think all of us did. Everything we all learnt always came so much easier to you. Almost as though it were second nature." Venus turns to face me again, "Maybe the end result is a little hard to wrap your mind around, but I always knew somewhere inside that you would be special." She leans in and hugs me.

"I remember you guys singling me out a lot as kids… I guess that must have been why… I mean you were kids, so I don't really consider any of that to be genuine to how you feel now, but maybe that feeling was something you all kind of had… And it affected how you treated me."

"You know… I think you might be right. Especially when we went into that new house once and we made you take the attic room… You did some amazing things with that space, but we would leave for our classes without you, and other little things… I never recall starting them, but I had felt… I don't know, threatened I guess, by your talent and I went along with everyone even when I knew I shouldn't have… I know I wasn't the best big sister for a long time… But I hope that trying later on made a difference."

"Yeah, it did, I remember in late middle school you did start trying to include me… But I think the damage had kind of been done. I had already left behind all those classes and lessons, but I think your effort as I went into puberty helped." I recall.

"Yeah… I'm really sorry that I didn't step in sooner… I guess when we were kids, I felt stuck between loving you as my sister and feeling obligated to listen to Nyx… She more often than not led us, but you would never listen to her. I imagine she resented that, but I would think that she doesn't feel that way anymore." I look up at the dome's lights and think about it. I guess I do remember some of how they treated me when we were younger… But most of the outwardly bad treatment stopped after Nyx had moved away for college. I remember that time they had all led me down the hall of the second-floor giggling to each other as they led me to the attic door. They had opened the door told me that none of them wanted to share a room with me since Nyx was the oldest, the twins were already sharing, and Venus was old enough to need a room of her own. So they had said I could have the whole attic to myself and they closed the door, locked the door, and laughed all the way back down to the moving truck. Our rooms had always been so close together, but this time they made a point of sending me to the lonely attic. Usually all of their supposed bullying had basically just bounced off of me, never having the desired effect. Even though that may have been Nyx's last family move before she went to college her treatment remained, and I always ended up in the most isolated room in each of the following moves.

Then everything clicks.

The arrangement of the symbols for all of my adoptive siblings on the floor…

"Holy shit." I breath.

"What? Did something happen?" Venus reacts worried.

"That's it…" I stand up and walk to the middle of the room.

"What's it? Our bullying you as kids is the answer?" I laugh at her response.

"No, but I might have figured it out… Can you make sure that no one comes over here in the next couple of minutes?"

"Oookay… Why?"

"Because I'm going to do something. You're going to freak out; please keep it quiet. And I'm not sure I'm ready to have the rest of them know yet. And I need to make sure that I'm thinking of this right before I act on it."

"Alright… Be strange then." She strolls over to the entrance and peers down the passage, "You're all clear."

"Great." I get ready to summon the ethereal wings, "Keep any freaking out quiet. Please." I remind her as I look at her and she shrugs like nothing is going to surprise her.

Then I bring them out and launch myself up to the top of the dome. I had already examined the dome itself, but I hadn't yet looked at the floor from the top. And sure enough there it is. The way that all the symbols on the floor have been arranged the same as whenever there had been a meeting. This is the way the symbols for all of us that would be on the banners held by the humans accompanying us. The only one missing is mine. I let myself sink back to the ground and walk over to one of the many blank circles on the floor where my symbol should be.

And Venus marches up to me.

"You weren't going to tell us you can fly?" She restrains from shouting.

"No, it draws too much attention, so I barely ever do it."

"Oh! 'Draws too much attention'… Yeah! Because _people_ don't fly…" She whispers harshly as she get closer, "Okay… Okay… I can see why you wouldn't want to tell us. But still. That is _fucking_ amazing."

"Thanks. You might want to come stand over here."

"Oh, sure…" She hops over to me.

"Right on the circle here." She scooches in a bit.

Then I concentrate my power into the floor at this spot and my symbol lights up on the floor. Then the whole room begins to rumble as the floor in the center of the room begins to sink and rotate. The movement shakes loose some small rocks and dust that fall from the dome. As floor turns the moving spreads almost to where we are and when it stops the room has sunk to reveal a grand entrance just below the pedestal holding the riddle.

"Of course it was that simple… Athena was probably laughing her ass off telling them what to do." I say cynically. _That took about five minutes… I imagine the others are probably running this way now…_

"Oh, simple, huh?" Venus quips.

"Guys! Are you okay?" We hear shouting and stomping coming from the passage behind us. _Yup, there they are._

"Venus? Astraea?" Mom's voices echoes down the passage.

"We're fine," I call towards them, then a minute later they all come rushing into the space panting from having sprinted all the way through the tunnels and they gawk at the new appearance of it.

"So… You figured it out?"

"Yeah, I was the key." I grin as Vee elbows me a little.

"You just wanted to say that. You had to stand in the perfect spot, then you did something, and bam! New door." Vee spouts next to me.

"Either way… Shall we?" I gesture down the new steps towards the door.

"Uh… Sure, yeah…" Lio says and Zeph nods before they both start heading down the steps.

Zeph and Lio both wait at the threshold of the door for me to go in first, and when I do step in the whole room bursts to life around us.

As the space lights up, I recognize the general look to be similar to how Eos had always designed her dwellings and outbuildings. Astraeus always liked to say it had been a team effort, but I once saw this team in action it consisted of Eos creating the designs and supervising while Astraeus watched over the whole area and those involved in the work. The space creates an immense feeling of nostalgia. The biggest difference is that they've decorated the ceilings with the night sky, the way my spaces had always been.

The space is a long hall with a sort of semi-circle ending, like a church's apse.

"Looks like there are even more rooms connected to this…" Zeph says looking to the sides of the space where there are smaller doors.

"It's almost like a sanctuary…" Vee sighs. We walk towards the end of the main room and find a real Isu console. With a beautiful circular mosaic on the floor flowing with light.

" _This_ is a console…" I say as I hover my hands over the smooth surface, I have seen so many Isu ruins this the catastrophe… And that's what most were… Ruins. But this… Eos outdid herself with this. It has outlasted many other Isu structures…

"This has to be the most intact Isu construction I've ever seen…" My mom breaths exactly what I was thinking.

"Yes… Eos outdid herself. Her designs were always amazing… But I didn't think having it underground would have made it survive so… Completely." It certainly says something when Ilios' lab, that had been similarly built underground, had fallen into irreparable shape during the times of Ancient Greece.

A place my hands on the silent console and just as the space did before, it springs to life.

Then a shimmering begins in the middle of the circular mosaic just behind me. It starts low and builds up into two figures.

"Astraea… Our Astraea… You've found our final gift to you at last…" Eos says, or least the shimmering projection of her.

"We are sorry we couldn't find you then… But after we spoke with Minerva, we decided it was best. You didn't have to witness the terrors of the Catastrophe or any chaos that bloomed in its wake. Minerva said that Dike would find you, but only after some semblance of peace had been reached." Astraeus apologizes in his typical long and drawn-out way.

"It's okay… It wasn't your fault. I mostly regret not getting a real chance to say goodbye to you both… Or thank you. I recovered my memories while I was in Ilios' device…" I say to them and they just smile.

"Yes… Minerva with all her gifts was fairly certain that you would get your memories back." Eos starts, "She also told us that once you found this place you would have rejoined your family…" My family all step in behind me, "I bid you welcome. It gives me great happiness to see you all." She opens her arms. My mom places her hands on my shoulders.

"Eos, Astraeus… This is my mom, Aurora. Mom, these are the Isu, Astraeus and Eos… The Isu who took me in and cared for me as much as they did their own children." I start introductions, "These are my brothers Aquilo and Zephyr… And this is my sister Venus."

"So you are the youngest of four?" Astraeus asks.

"Five actually… Our oldest sister isn't here right now." Zeph says and immediately shrinks once Astraeus' attention is on him.

"It's no wonder you fit in so well amongst our family… Your brothers remind me of our Zephyrus and Boreas. And your sister reminds me of Eosphorus, even though they were a little less feminine." Eos chuckles as she observes my siblings.

"I want to thank you for taking care of my little girl… Although, it seems she isn't so little anymore." My mom steps forward a bit, and Eos gives a glowing smile.

"It was my—our pleasure. I only wish we could have protected her longer." Eos leans down and puts a hand on my mom's shoulder and then she looks down at me, "We built this place so that you can have, not only a chance to say goodbye to us, but a sanctuary that you can return to later on as well. We made a secondary entrance that can only be opened by the people you give access to. You can put your family in as people able to enter and use this space freely. Now I must deliver some unfortunate news. You will have to block off the other exit because your enemies will be finding your hiding place above soon."

"Shit…" Aquilo curses _almost_ under his breath.

"For real? How?" Vee exclaims.

"We all know that Abstergo is persistent, they were going to find that cave sooner or later." Zeph reasons with them, I look over at Astraeus and Eos to see them watching my siblings as they once watched their own bickering about this and that.

"Aquilo, Zephyr. Go and collect the things we need. Venus and I will find a place to set up in here while Astraea gets things worked out on the… Computer?" Mom takes charge quickly.

"Yeah, computer is about as accurate as you can get." I confirm for her. They all go about their business and Astraeus and Eos begin to teach me the specifics of the consoles, but as I always did then, I pick it up quickly. Then they tell me the other things I will find here. Like my armour from Hephaestus, my weapons from both Hephaestus and Hermes. They also tell me about the systems in here. All the things they wanted it to do, and what they made available… Like the program I had designed to help me remember to do things, that I had made in Dike's image. She hadn't liked that at first, but she liked it more once she was able to tell it to remind me of certain things that I would often forget to do. She liked that it effectively ordered me around. They also told me about how they constructed this place using a copy of my power signature, which is why it responds to me so readily.

"There is also a standing console in the next room with your belongings… It holds messages." I look at Eos, "We were not as talented with programming as Minerva or the Betrayer, so our consciousness programs won't last long… But the last thing we wanted to tell you is in a brief message there."

"And this is where we must say goodbye. We are glad to have seen your family and how much you've grown into your power. We will always love you as our daughter." Astraeus says.

"We truly will. Goodbye, Astraea of the stars." Eos breathes as her shimmering hand reaches down to touch my cheek.

"Goodbye…" I place my hand over hers before they both fade into nothing, returning to the special place in my memories where they have been for millennia now… Only this time, I wonder if it doesn't hurt more.

* * *

We make a game plan as soon as Lio and Zeph get back with the first round of stuff. I show Venus and Zeph the basics on the using commands in the system, and I tweak the aid program that looks like Dike to speak in English and be able to help with them with the more complicated processes… Because I know that bringing down the caverns is going to take a lot out of me. It may even cause me to lose consciousness. But my priority is making sure that they are safe, and if that means collapsing a mountain, then so be it.

All-in-all it takes about five hours to move everything, stock up, and get settled on what to do. Aquilo and Zeph had argued that we could use explosives, but I managed to get them to realize that if I use my power not only will it be more precise but less detectable once Abstergo finds their way into the tunnels and to where the collapse will be. So far as they will be able to tell, the mountain shifted causing a cave-in that closed the path, and the Assassins who had been hiding there are either dead underneath the mountain or were gone before it happened.

Once Aquilo and Zephyr finish moving things from the hideout above into our new space and fetching new supplies from town, I work on using my power to turn the path to us to rubble. I go up above and very carefully thread my power through the cavern. I weave it into the stones of the area where we had been sleeping, into the walls of the labyrinthine passages to the domed area, and then once they're all out of harm's way, I prepare to bring it all down. Eos had assured me that the domed space would survive because they had used my power signature in the very heart of the stone they used to build this sanctuary. And from the inside of the sanctuary we would be able to close the door to the domed space so that even should Abstergo find that space. They will have no way in.

I stand and take a deep breath in. I can feel the threads of my power throughout the spaces above us. Shaking my hands I prepare myself before beginning. Then I pull, delicately at first, and then a little stronger. Like pulling a single thread out of a tapestry without ruining either the thread or the remainder of the tapestry. Keeping the delicate pace as I pull power through the caverns will help to minimize the backlash once I finish; I _do_ want to live to see tomorrow after all. As the last power is tugged out of the stone, I feel exactly what I expected begin. It starts with a low rumble, then a shattering crack sound. Then I race into the sanctuary where Zephyr is ready to close the door.

Just as I pass the large door, I help Zephyr close it, and then he activates the seal returning the domed room to the state that it had been before.

"Wow. I… I'm speechless." Aquilo shakes his head a little and pats my arm.

"That was really something… Apparently we need to add mountain-mover to your resume." Zephyr says as he walks up to me. But I'm just trying to get to where they've set up the cots… Because I know what happens when I push myself too far. And literally moving a mountain is pushing myself too far. I see Venus and mom begin to walk over to us, but the ringing in my head has already pushed out all other sound, then the world gets blurry.

"Hey, are you alright?" Zephyr asks from beside me his voice warbled and echoing.

"I'm fine…" I lie, then I feel moisture at my nose. I touch it and look to see blood on my fingers before falling to the ground.

Then the ringing consumes everything.

Then there is only black.

* * *

I open my eyes slowly, and immediately there is a sharp pain that shoots through my head. I bring my right hand up and rub my temple.

"Good morning, Sleeping Beauty." I hear from beside me; I glance over to see Zeph which cause another jolt of pain throughout my brain.

"Ugh…"

"You look like you've had a bad night of drinking?" He asks before holding out a bottle of water. I slowly sit up, my entire body aching and stiff.

"How long was I out?" I take the water and look at Zeph who has obvious bags under his eyes from exhaustion. And I see him thinking heavily about what to say, his jaw is clenched tightly as it does when he has a lot to say and is struggling to control his emotions… But why?

"Only about thirty-three hours… But who's counting? Your mom? Who nearly had a heart attack when you fell over and definitely hasn't slept this whole time… Venus? Who tried to wake you, unsuccessfully, of course, and is now only asleep because she was the one who stayed up longest next to mom. Aquilo? Who carried you to a cot and spent at least the next fifteen hours next to you despite exhaustion and had to be carried away after zonking on the floor… Or maybe me? Who has been trying to not only hold everyone together but has also been sick with worry because I know you told me that despite you being more durable than most humans you are _not_ indestructible. So when you started to bleed from your nose after moving a mountain, what were we all supposed to think? Are we supposed to assume you would just be all fine and dandy afterwards? You never told us otherwise. Were we supposed to just _know_ that you were pushing yourself? You need to tell us these things. Otherwise what is the point of us knowing about you? If you can't tell us this kind of thing then why tell us anything?" He stands up, his fists clenched at his sides and stalks away without letting me say anything.

Oh boy… I hadn't even thought about it that way… I have been so used to handling everything on my own that… That it hadn't even occurred to me to let them know what might happen… Even if it would've stopped them from worrying as much. I should have said something. I guess even after all this time, there are still things I need to learn… Mom was right about me always holding onto my burdens alone… I thought that I had shared the truth with them… But all I did was tell them a little nugget of the truth to ease my own guilt of lying to them.

I sit in the bed for a while drinking out of the water bottle little by little as the throbbing in my head settles down.

Then as I swing my legs over the edge of the bed, my mom walks around the corner.

"Mom…" She looks completely drained… "I'm really sorry… I…"

"It's alright…" She starts.

"No, it's not alright. I should have told you that I was pushing myself too far. I knew I would be… I… I just wanted to protect you all… And I ended up hurting you instead." I look down and she puts her hand on my cheek.

"We haven't had much time to settle into how to be a family with everything going on. None of us can expect this to happen instantly." She sits down on the bed beside me, "It will take time. I know you… And because I know you, I know that you probably haven't leaned on very many people in the past. It will take some time," She repeats, "But I hope that someday you'll have told me everything about your life." She puts her arm around my shoulder and pulls me against her, "Now… I heard from Zephyr that you were effectively married, is that true?" I suck in air too quickly and end up choking on my spit. So once the coughing recedes, I look at her and she smiles the 'if you lie to me, I'll end you' smile that I remember so well from all the times I was I in trouble as a child.

"Well… We never really got _married_ … But we did handfast." I place my right hand on her lap so she can examine my ring.

"Your favourite stone… And these?" She touches the two turquoise stones.

"His favourite." I pull his ring from under my shirt and let her take a close look.

"Did he have them both made to match?" She asks.

"No, we each had one made for the other, he had mine made and I had his made. They ended up matching." I laugh at the memory of us presenting the rings to each other in front of the handful of Istanbul Assassins, the initial shock of how similar they look, and the laughter that filled the hideout that afternoon.

"It's definitely going take some time getting used to the idea that I wasn't there for some many firsts in your life… Things I was hoping to experience _with_ you, like your wedding. And of course everything leading up to it. I'm sorry you had to be alone for so long." She hugs me again.

"It may not have all be sunshine and rainbows… But it wasn't all bad. His name was Yusuf Tazim." She then does exactly what I did and ends up coughing for a few minutes.

"Yusuf Tazim? The Assassin from sixteenth century Istanbul?" Right. A historian. A historian who is an Assassin… That's what my mom is. Of course she knows who Yusuf Tazim was.

We talk like that for a while and then Venus comes in yawning, shortly after Aquilo also shows up. But Zeph never comes back. We all sit and chat, mostly about the past.

Two more days pass before my head is feeling back to full working order. Zeph slept for most of it, but late yesterday he woke up and pointedly ignored me.

Today, I have decided to approach the one room I haven't been to yet, but in wanting to make up with Zephyr I go out to find where he has hidden himself today.

It doesn't take long; we may have gotten more space moving into this sanctuary but there is still only so many spots to be.

"Hey…" I say when I find him sitting up on one of the structural beams about twenty feet up.

He doesn't answer right away so I just stand underneath him for a while before I bring up what I hunted him down for.

"There's something I wanted to show you… It's the only room I haven't gone into yet. I've been nervous of what I'll find, to be honest. And if you can accept an apology from me, then I'd like for you to come with me…" He doesn't answer right away, so I start to walk away to give him some time to think it over. Then he deftly lands next to me.

"You? Nervous? Now this I have to see." Then he puts an arm around me, and we walk to the room holding my Isu life inside.

I open the door but hesitate. The room slowly comes alive from the door having been opened, beckoning me inside. Then Zephyr takes my hand and tugs me as he walks into the room. I take a breath and let him pull me in.

My weapons and armor have been carefully hung on the walls, there are a couple of closed chests and in the center of the room, just as Eos said, there is a standing console glittering with Isu text and symbols.

"Wow… These were _all_ yours?" Zeph gapes as he strolls along eyeing up all the weapons.

"Yeah, Hephaestus and Hermes really enjoyed making things that would harness or grow with my power. So I ended up with a lot of weapons… and armor. These are just some of my favourites." I say as he gets along to the stands with my armor sets, all of them looking worse for wear, but were I to put them on, being reintroduction to my power would likely return them to the state in which I received them. I turn my attention back to the console and place my hand on it.

Eos and Astraeus give a little introduction and then the video moves on to a handful of the Isu I had become closest to. In the introduction Eos says how Minerva spoke to each of them before so that their message could be a brief as possible but with as much meaning as they could get into the short messages. Minerva did all that? She had already been so busy trying to make sure that humans could have a future. She had never been the best at showing her feeling, I guess I must have meant more than I realized.

I just sit on the ground in front of the console watching the messages, feeling the loss I had felt after Dike had woken me up wash over me again. But this time… With more closure. When Dike had found me and woken me up, almost all the other Isu who had initially survived the Catastrophe had already passed on and I had gotten no chance to say goodbye. At least now I know that they were able to say goodbye to me, leaving them with hopefully less regret when they faced death.

Then the videos seemed to have finished so I stand up. Then I see Dike.

"I was told by Minerva that I would be the only one of all of us, besides herself, to see you again. So she wants me to be the one to deliver this message to you… I guess knowing that I will find you makes me happy, but she said it won't be for a while yet. Not that her words have ever stopped me from trying before, so I'm going to keep searching for where that maggot, Ilios, left you." She makes a disgusted expression as she says his name.

"So first, I miss you. And I hope I find you soon… Without you everything seems a little less lively and warm. And I regret that. I'll probably tell you this when I see you, but I'm sorry. I feel so responsible for letting that maggot snatch you away. I can't believe he dared feign friendship with you, and Astraeus and Eos. I'd kill him if he hadn't died in the onslaught of solar fire. I often feel cheated that the sun robbed me of my opportunity to run him through. There is no justice in what he did or how it ended up." She pauses, most of these things she did talk to me about, and I had the opportunity to assure her that I shouldn't have been so trusting of him, and that it wasn't her fault at all. Her eyes look up past the device capturing her likeness, "Minerva is telling me to finish up… I guess I have to listen to her after all…" She smiles in the way she often would when she knew she was causing trouble. "But she did want me to say something here, I'm not to repeat this to you after I find you though… She said it will mean nothing to you when I find you… But that it would mean everything to you by the time this message reaches you. And I'm sorry I don't know the meaning, apparently there is an explanation from Minerva about it in the main computer." She shrugs, "I don't know what Astraeus and Eos are plotting only that I have one thing to say to you… But I've said a lot more. I'll see you soon, I hope." She smiles and looks at me through time.

"Your Light yet lives."


	22. My Light

An invisible weight crashes into me. Stealing my breath and causing my legs to give away from beneath me. If my knees hitting the floor hurt, I didn't notice.

The console goes black, but the last words echo through my mind.

_Your light yet lives._

Is that even possible.

I feel hands at my arms, and I refocus on everything around me to see Zephyr wearing a horrified expression and with skin paler than snow.

"Are you okay? What happened?" He asks me, looking back and forth between my eyes trying to make eye contact with me. _I need to confirm this first_. She said there was an explanation on the main computer. I stand up and start walking.

"Did you hear the last message?" I ask Zephyr as I canter out of the room with him trying to stay on my tail.

"No, what did it say?" I pause… Should I tell him? What good will it do to tell him? Or more importantly what good will it do to keep it from him?

"It—I…" I exhale in an exasperated huff, "Just give me some time to figure this out." I canter to the middle hall and then to the main console. I start to search the through everything there. My knuckles white from gripping the edges of the smooth console.

"You were watching messages right? What did they say? It's obviously not nothing if you're this worked up about it." Zeph says as he arrives at the console behind me.

"I need to figure this out first… If what she said is true in the way I'm understanding it… Then…" Then all this time… He's been stuck, in the dark… But how is this possible? I search and search until I come across something bearing a sun. I activate it and see Minerva's face on the screen, "Dike said in the message… 'Your light yet lives.'" Zeph narrows his eyes for a moment and then realizes what that could mean in a gasp.

"Astraea. If you are seeing this message then I was successful in storing this within Astraeus and Eos' devices without them realizing. Long ago I noticed something about your power. It leaves traces on those you seem to feel connected to, rather those you feel a deep bond with. Such as Dike, which is why it was her I asked to leave that message. I wonder on whether it could have extended the lives of a few Isu, like myself and Dike. As I have seen that she will outlive the rest of us by a long time. I had also hypothesized about the effects it could have on a human, should you ever feel a deep enough bond with another human.

"I did realize quite early on that you had once been a human. I had shared the revelation with Astraeus and Eos, but they chose not to tell you in fear of you feeling inadequate. Now, I know you have regained your memories and it has been many millennia since the time of the Isu ended for good. And I cannot spare this much time else the world perish, but I thought it would only be fair to share with you all I managed to discover regarding your power.

"I was not able to find the source of what happened to you. Perhaps it is because you came to us from the time of humans, it is hard to say. What I did find is that your power is not based in Isu ability as we once thought. And it seems you may be able share parts of your power with those with whom you have a deep and indomitable bond. In a human it may be able to extend life as your power does for you. This I found by sheer folly as I had looked forward to find my Prophet, and my last resort to save the world. I felt that with this discovery, I should share it with you out of respect for the time we shared. Thank you for bringing life and light to the home of my friends, they had often felt alone after their children left to be their own people, and you brought life and love back to them. Thank you, and goodbye."

Her image flashes off the screen and I'm left with the ever-shifting information she's left in the section with the sun.

"Uh… That was Minerva…" Zeph points out, "And she just left a personal message for you."

"Thank you, Captain Obvious. Athena was always kind to me… And now… If she's right…" I swipe all the information away, leaving the screen as a shifting black void before I jog over to where my things had been put.

"Hey! Wait up!" Zeph shouts as he struggles to keep up with my speed, "Didn't we just have a whole thing about honesty?" He says as he comes into the area where I'm throwing my things into my bag again.

"Yep. So I'm honestly telling you that I'm leaving now. If what she said is true, then I'm going to Istanbul. Immediately." I fling the bag over my shoulder and head back to the room holding all of my weapons. I grab a pair of dual swords that Hephaestus had made for me in collaboration with Hermes. They are my favourites. The beautiful scrolling vines design modeled after my power, the use of my favourite dark green with the emeralds. Uniquely beautiful, but I choose them for the matter of what they can do. I test the feeling of them in my hands after so long, slashing the air and spinning them until Zeph arrives.

"Are you really going to take two swords into the world? They're very pretty… But that isn't very conspicuous…" Zephyr states as I hold them in my hands, I look at him a let my power seep into them for the first time in many millennia. Soon they glow the warm golden colour as they wake up and come to life. Then as I remember doing so many times I bid them to change.

And surely, they glow brightly for a moment before they each turn into a golden bangle with the scrolling vines around the metal and inlaid with the same emeralds. Zeph's jaw comically drops as I put the bangles on each wrist.

"Okay… Point made." He nods while blankly staring at the floor.

Then I begin to head over to where the sanctuary opens to a cave that leads out of the mountain on the opposite side of the other cave.

"Hey, hold on… Shouldn't we at least discuss this as a family?" Zeph grabs my arm as I start to walk away, my anger and impatience rising.

"Athena just told me that the love of my life might have been alive all this time. For _five hundred years_. Buried. Underground. I'm going to go get him out." He exhales slowly, thinking over what he wants to say. I'm probably sounding angrier than I want to with him, but I…

"Okay, you go ahead, I'll tell them." I turn to leave but he pulls my arm to look at him, "But don't you think for a second that we won't be following behind you as soon as we can." Stubbornness glittering in his cold grey eyes.

"Fine, but at least two of you should probably stay here, hold down the fort. At least until we can give them an update." I say as he releases my arm and I begin to walk away.

"I'll relay that you think so, but the end decision _is_ up to _us_. Not you." He says as I leave the room, my mind racing too much to bother arguing.

I run through the space and come across Aquilo on the way out.

"Hey, where are you leaving to?" He tilts to see the bag on my shoulder, "With all your stuff…" He narrows his eyes at me.

"Zeph has the whole story, I need to go now. I'm sorry we never really got to discuss things properly between us privately…"

"I'm sorry too… Be safe." He says as I begin the steep climb up and out of the sanctuary's cave.

Once I get out of the cave I dig out my flip phone from the bottom of my bag and call up Silvija. She is luckily on her way back to the antiquities dealer in Bitola, so she will be stopping and dropping off a load of antiques for this guy's show. So I'm in luck that she is already en route to me, and she'll be able to take me to an airstrip just outside of Istanbul that she managed to get a deal with for my company, although, I suppose for now it is just as much hers as mine.

Knowing that it will take a while I don't rush to the small airstrip east of the city. With the sun about two hours away from setting the temperature is warm without feeling too hot. I try to enjoy the leisurely walk, aiming to let my mind settle down over the new information I received. I do my best to reason that since there is nothing I can immediately do, that I'm not already doing, then there is no reason to get further upset. I need to keep a level head. Then after about an hour the little phone rings.

"Yeah?" I say, knowing it could only be one person.

"Astraea? I got a call from Zephyr. He said that he and his twin are joining this flight to Istanbul. Is that okay? I know you mentioned you wanted to keep your connections to this company quiet."

"It's fine. Aquilo and Zeph can keep a secret. Call them back and tell them to rush. You're already in Bitola, right?"

"Yes, we landed about fifteen minutes ago and are just finishing up unloading the antiquities to the buyer."

"Excellent. I'll be there in about thirty minutes. See you soon." I hang up, I am surprised that it took them so little time to figure out what they all wanted to do. Then I hear a honking behind me on the road. I turn and see Lio in the driver's seat and Zeph in the passenger seat of a small grey sedan. They stop next to me and Zeph rolls down the passenger window.

"Hey, hot stuff… Where you headed?" He grins wickedly at me waggling his eyebrows. And I hop into the backseat of the sedan.

"You didn't think we'd let you do this alone, did you?" Lio quips as we pick up speed again and start towards the airstrip. In a vehicle it will likely only take another ten minutes… I text the update to Silvi so she can expect us sooner.

"Actually… No, I didn't. But I was sure I'd at least make it to Istanbul first." I joke to them.

"Well… We could let you get off the plane first, then technically you would be getting there before us." Zeph suggests and I chuckle at the comment.

After twelve minutes on the road we pull into the hangar where the little jet is waiting for us.

"Oh, I know this one… I've gotten rides from these guys before. They're surprisingly good at keeping things looking legit." Lio says as we walk up to the plane, and Silvija comes over to us.

"I have to admit I wasn't ever expecting to meet any of your family… And here I find out that I already know some of them." She jokes as she comes over and hugs me.

"Trust me… I'm more surprised than you are." I respond as I look at Zeph and Lio, Zeph already saw me interacting with Silvija and isn't so surprised but Lio's jaw is practically hitting the ground, "You guys want to hop in? I'm gonna talk shop with Silvi."

"Sure thing, _little_ sister." Zeph emphasizes the 'little' and smirks at me.

"But… I'm…" Lio stutters out.

"Come on, man…" Zeph herds the larger version of himself onto the airplane.

"So Silvija, this strip near Istanbul, what kind is it?" I ask her as they climb the stairs up and we stroll towards them. She passes me a fresh smartphone, ever thoughtful knowing I had to ditch mine. I slide it into my pocket.

"It's fairly exclusive. We had to wrangle in a large antiquities' seller in Istanbul for this deal, but after a few successful ventures with them, we earned the use of the strip. But I admit that it won't be good to have you stepping off with you and your brothers dressed as you are. I think it would be best if you dress the part of one of our executives. I have already called in to confirm that we can fly in an executive this evening."

"Well, I hope you've got changes of clothes up there, because we have nothing. Nothing that will scream antiquities transportation executive and company anyway." I laugh as we climb the stairs, me just behind Silvija. When we get into the cabin she opens up one of the cupboards to reveal three garment bags.

"As soon as Zephyr called I had someone who was already in Bitola pick up two plain black suits, for them to dress as your security team. And I always have something of yours on these aircrafts. Just in case." She separates each bag and passes one to each of them. They both look confused.

"You are always so prepared. This is why I left you with all this. I'll explain to them if you want to get us going." I assure her.

"Absolutely. Make sure to buckle up, it can be rough to leave the mountainous areas." She says to us before disappearing into the cockpit, "And you look exhausted, maybe get some rest?"

I explain everything while we climb up to cruising altitude, then I lay down on one of the couch spots and close my eyes for a while.

* * *

_Shafts of lights sneak in between the planks that were used to fashion this hefty crate. The inside inscribe with Greek words in the form some prayer to Zeus and Ares. Against any demons of death and destruction that escape from Tartarus. I wonder what the outside looks like. The army had overpowered me. So efficiently too. The way they had switched in and out moving tiring soldiers out of the circle around me and bringing in fresh faced soldiers to wear me down little by little. My unwillingness to kill them all had been my undoing. And now here I am. Trapped in a box, on what feels to be a ship by the rocking back and forth._

" _And now!" The sounds of cheering soldiers, "We shall send back—" The speaker is cut off again by further eruptions of cheers from the ship I know we're on and others that sound to be near by, "This Tartarus Cursed Demon!" Deafening jeers fill the air as the box that I've locked in gets rapped on, "We shall show Hades, here and now, THAT WE DO NOT FEAR THOSE THAT MAY ESCAPE HIS PRISON!" The loudest cheers as I hear scraping beneath me, "And we shall show him that we CAN FIGHT for our own!" Cheers resound further, I had only met this man a couple of times, he is truly a good leader… "That we can send his prisoners back to him for caging! That they shall no longer sow fear and destruction among us and our families!"_

_A sharp scraping sound followed by the sound of rushing air before an impact causes my feet to hit the bottom of the box and the gaps that had been letting in the sunlight are now points where water is rushing in and the air is being forced out._

_I smash my fists against the wood, but it has been well crafted this little box. I know I won't die from lack of oxygen thanks to Ilios' experiments, but I will go dormant. The hibernation that happens when I'm deprived of that which I need to live. And there won't be anything I can do. Nothing. Not until this box is destroyed by some outside force… Or by whatever length of time it will take for the box to become brittle enough that the currents of the sea can finally unmake it. And hopefully before it gets buried in silt and sand._

_I take a deep breath as the last of my air escapes from this box. I futilely try to break the top off the box, until I can't hold my breath any longer. And the last of the air escapes from my lungs and out the cracks of the box. I beat the inside of the box until life fades from my mind._

_Then my eyes close and I sleep._

I shoot up from the narrow couch on the jet, the sounds of the engines bring me back to the present, where Zeph, Aquilo, and Silvija are all looking over at me.

"Are you okay?" Zeph asks before the other two get their words.

"Yeah… I'm fine. Bad dream is all." I take a deep gulp of air, remembering what it felt like for my last breath to leave my body. They go back into their discussion as I stand up to grab my garment bag to change into the professional set of dark grey pants and a blazer. In the bathroom I also apply a little makeup and tame my hair into a basic French twist bun. Then I step out and the three appraise me, with Silvija nodding with a smile and Zephyr and Aquilo just staring. That is until Zephyr finds something he deems clever to say.

"I don't see why I can't be the executive. _I_ obviously have the most executive looks out of all of us. A handsome face, without the body builder look." Zeph side-eyes Aquilo as he straightens the suit sleeves.

"Hey. Don't dis the bod." He straightens his back a little and has to adjust his tie. I go to say the reason, but Silvija beats me to the punch.

"The reason is because with all of our company's paperwork, employees, contract-holders, and deals, and even within our reputation it is known that the owner of the company is a reclusive and rich woman who has kept herself out of the picture ever since the death of the previous owner, her mother." As she finishes she snaps the folder she's holding shut.

"Since her mother's death?" Aquilo asks looking at me.

"Well, since the world doesn't have any laws supporting immortals who own businesses, I've had to make it as though it were being 'passed down' through the generations. From mother to daughter. For hundreds of years. It's only been recently that I had Silvija taking care of business."

"Recently for you maybe." She quips at me with a smile, "For the rest of the world it's been seven years. And twenty-four since you helped us escape Abstergo."

"Wow… That was a long time ago…" I say, I hadn't realized that it had been nearly a quarter-century since I had saved her family. We land and begin the short taxying to our hangar.

"You're only saying that because she pointed out that it's a long time." Zeph accuses.

"Well. Now you know that _I'm_ the executive because I'm the only one who's ever really been an executive before." I bring us back to the issue at hand and Zeph makes an 'ouch' face, "Don't forget what you're supposed to be doing. We have to look like we've done this as a team at least a hundred—no—a thousand times."

Then the plane stops moving and Silvija's co-pilot comes out of the cockpit and opens the door. I stand up and look at my security team. I raise my eyebrows at them, and they both nod to say they're ready. Silvija stows our clothes and small backpacks into a plain black suitcase.

Then we disembark the small jet and parade to the sleek black car waiting for us. On the way there Silvija hands me a folder with some details about the company and I flip a couple of the pages skimming the notes she's left for me before closing it. Silvija opens the door for me and I sit in the seat, then she closes the door and goes to the other side with Aquilo behind her and Zeph goes straight to the driver's seat and away we go. Towards the looming lights of Istanbul.

 _Finally_. My heartbeat picks up more speed as we arrive to the place I've been itching to get to ever since I heard Dike utter those words in her message.

"Great job. I'd expect nothing less from fully trained Assassins." Silvija praises Zeph and Aquilo on their A+ jobs of acting the part of top-tier security team.

"Thanks, I think… So where are we off to? Also, were you judging us on a higher level than Raea?" He scrutinizes Silvija in the rear-view mirror.

"We're going to a warehouse that has already been prepared for your use. And I wasn't worried about Astraea. I've seen her play the part of executive many times before. It always seems so natural to her." Silvija replies coolly, then she swipes at her tablet and the map of the warehouse I asked her to get ready appears on the dash before his eyes.

"Wow. That's cool… But we've never been filthy rich, so how does the filthy rich act come to you so naturally?" He asks me. I meet his eyes in the rear-view mirror.

"Because. If you were to tally up all of my belongings; property, antiques, caches, and other assets I would be the richest person in the world. Not Jeff Bezos. And that is even with constantly funneling money into various charities and research… Research done by those who are not with Abstergo's advantages. The shipping company is only one of the things I have in the world. I have deeds for homes and other kinds of property all over the world. A huge portion of my wealth is in objects and property rather than actual cash." I watch the city's lights go by out the window, along with the mix of ancient and modern buildings that can only happen in timeless cities like Istanbul. "Of course, it is all with various names on the ownerships, but the names on the ownership of each asset is a set of identification that I have fabricated to keep myself unknown in the world. I had a bit of an advantage since I knew how digital the world was when I left it, so I was able to ensure that everything is traceable, through paper trails from earlier times and digital ones as it became more common. Like the ownership of the shipping company, in how I've had it be passed down every four decades, or so, to the next person of the lineage. In fact, I had it 'passed down' to the current owner only five years ago. Silvija was able to act as the witness for it, which was very convenient." Aquilo whistles his admiration.

"Wow… You certainly haven't been twiddling your thumbs, have you?" He comments.

"No, I have not. I learnt the hard way to never make myself too traceable, conspicuous, or perfect. Also to not make too many ripples in one place."

"What do you mean by ripples?" Zeph asks from the front.

"I mean, don't do too many things that can be noticed. If I do something that draws too much attention, I typically leave the area for a while. Not unlike how the Assassins often change their hideouts and with how no single member knows where everyone is at any given time."

"And I imagine you know why that is." Aquilo says from the seat next to me.

"Of course. Because of what happened in 2000." I leave it at that. If there are any Assassins that don't know about the Great Purge performed by Abstergo, it isn't my business.

We pull into one warehouse and use an underground parkade to get us to the adjacent warehouse, as detailed by Silvija's directions to Zeph via the car's maps system. The reason being to hide that anyone is using this one at all. Once Zeph parks near the entrance to the parkade, we all pile out of the car.

"The motorcycle is still at this warehouse right?" I ask Silvija.

"Of course, it's in the small sea can in the corner over that way." Silvija answers without having to even look up from her tablet and points over to the far corner, where there is in fact a small sea can.

"Alright! Motorcycle! That's awesome." Aquilo hops with excitement.

"Sorry, Lio. I'm taking the motorcycle in order to get there quickly. You guys wait here until I message back with the okay to come to me. Right now I want to get there quickly. You two get the van over there ready to go while I'm going to where he should be." I explain as we walk over to the sea can while I begin to shed the layers of the executive shell. I take them right down to the active top I have on underneath the white button-down blouse and pull the two pins holding the bun in place letting my hair fall down, "And make sure to be ready to leave at a moment's notice. And Silvija, maybe make sure to have the first aid ready too… I'm not really sure what to expect when I get him." Even though she hasn't be told exactly what we're doing but all she does is go along with it, no questions asked, "After that, you should probably get back to regular business…"

"There should be a full field triage kit and a standard first-aid kit in the sea can. Other than that I'll just make sure to have a get away ready if you need it." She smiles and taps my shoulder with her hand before returning to the sleek black car we got here in and she leaves out the parkade again.

"Where did you even find her?" Zeph asks as Aquilo gets impatient and opens the sea can to admire the motorcycle.

"She had been caught up in an Assassin operation by complete coincidence… But Abstergo, of course, didn't buy that. She and her family ended up being targeted by Abstergo. The Assassins were doing nothing, so she put a plea on the dark web of the early nineties. I was the only one to answer her call for help because no one was willing to be put in Abstergo's crosshairs. Even the Assassins wouldn't own up to having caused the issue."

"Yikes… The Brotherhood would have even been capable of it then… But I think if it were now, they would if they could." Zeph says as we arrive at the sea can where Lio is gawking at my motorcycle. He leaves unsaid that it had been that operation of Abstergo's that deeply humbled the Assassins.

"Where did you get this?" He asks wide-eyed before barely hovering a hand over the surface of the bike. Zeph tries to be more subtle but I can see his eyes widen at the sleek machine.

"I had it made custom sometime in the late nineties." I answer as I dig through the wardrobe in the sea can to grab my leather jacket and helmet. And sure enough, the keys are in the pocket of the jacket.

"So, wait… You said earlier that you have caches… Are they all like this one? Just out there, in warehouses and shit?" Aquilo guesses as I zip up the jacket and being to walk the bike out of the sea can.

"No, some are like this. A warehouse somewhere being paid for by auto payments out of some half-existent company. Others are… More reclusive. Some are in remote areas, some are underneath old cities, hiding under the basements of houses I own that are being passed down through families that supposedly started when I first came into possession of the building. More often than not I have to go through great efforts to make sure my locations stay hidden. Once or twice they've been found, heralding an amazing archaeological find for some lucky bugger. But it's not like I can go and say 'Hey, that's my shit, fuck off!' Which is why I keep most of my caches are fairly mundane. Plus, I did downsize them in the decades leading up to now. I knew it wouldn't go unnoticed if I were suddenly travelling the world to really specific locations as Astraea… But now I guess it doesn't really matter." My thoughts linger for a moment on the keys and location of Kassandra's last gift to me.

"Jesus… You are a bonafide hoarder." Zeph quips with a malicious smile.

"Ha, ha… Aquilo?" He looks up at me from the bike, "If we get a chance, _you_ can have a ride on the bike." I slide the helmet over my head and tap the side to create the wireless connection to my new phone.

"Score!" He fist pumps before looking at Zeph whose jaw drops.

"Remember, be ready to leave at the drop of a hat." I flip visor down and start up the bike before tearing out of there, my heart had begun to beat so hard that I was sure they would hear it. My nerves have been frayed this whole time. I'm barely holding myself together.

_Will I get to see him?_

_Could this really be happening?_

I've been just going… Going so quickly I haven't even given a thought about what to say… Or do… How to act… What if, like me, he has memory loss? I didn't regain my memories until I had been in stasis for a few thousand years. And the world had changed irrevocably in that time…

Even for him. The world will be so different from what he knew… The only familiar parts will be the war with the Templars and me.

Speeding through the streets of the city, over the water that once needed a ferry ride to cross, past buildings… Some new and sparkling with glass and light, and some old buildings dusty and worn by time. As I do, I remember all the things about him.

I pass the café where Sefa and I had coffee before she brought me to Yusuf's grave. Then It had been a chance to see his grave renewed. Now, I go to upend it and free him. After I pull into the smaller street we had walked down that time, I hop off the bike and walk it along to a spot near the opening to the graveyard.

There is hardly any light, but that doesn't affect me in the least as I turn in to see the graveyard. I see the tree that Yusuf's grave is next to and I walk over to it.

Only…

What I find stops my heart.


	23. Stolen

My heart goes silent for a moment.

I take in the scene as carefully as I can; trying to battle down a growing rage.

The earth has been piled away from the space below the tree. The pile is almost covering another gravestone. I can easily see that what had held Yusuf is gone. The hole left in the ground says it plainly enough.

And the headstone, carved so beautifully with the stars and his name… Cracked and broken, leaning against the trunk of the tree as though it had been shoved aside carelessly.

The world closes in around me, becoming tinged with red as rage begins to take over my senses. Then I feel my power, usually so docile and malleable, become sharp and unyielding as it permeates the world around me. A low rumble begins in the ground below me.

The sound of someone approaching from behind causes me to go on the offensive. I turn to face the person approaching, expecting to see the one who surely did this, only to see a disheveled young woman approaching.

As rain extinguishing a wildfire, my rage slows.

"Miss Astraea? Is that you?" The woman shines a small flashlight at me.

"Sefa?" I ask after hearing her voice, "What are you doing here at this time of the night?"

"I was going to try to beat them here… But then I wasn't even sure what I could do…" I hear her voice break as she speaks.

"Them?" I repeat her word.

"Yes… I—" She stops with her voice shaking and her words getting caught in her throat, "I did not heed your warning from last time… You told me not to look further into the ideas of the Templar Order and the Brotherhood of Assassins, and the possibility of them still existing today… But… I did and I found too much." Shit. This is why I asked her not to. Because I knew, as capable as she is, that she would be able to find the truth, "And what I found… It scared me. Then before I knew it they were at the university; they were interrogating my professor. They asked her about Yusuf Tazim's gravesite and where I was. I only got away because she lied to them about where I was while using her body language to tell me to run… They almost caught me twice. And when I went to my home there were strange men everywhere. So I ran from there and came here… But I don't know what I was hoping to find…" She trails off and then falls to her knees and begins to sob. I go over to her and put my hands on her shoulders kneeling down to her level.

"Abstergo…" I state more than ask and she nods her head a little bit, "I wasn't completely truthful last time, I should have been more honest with my warning… If you are willing I can take you to people capable of protecting you. But… This will mean a significant change to your whole life. There is already no going back… But I can lead you to a way forward if you want…" She looks up at me tears streaming from her eyes.

"Do you mean the Assassins?" She whispers.

"Yes, as it turns out I am connected very thoroughly with the Assassins… Which I was unaware of when I met you before." I let it trail off before scaring her further.

"Do you really think they would help me?" She asks, her voice shaky at best.

"You are exactly the kind of person they like joining them. You have a serious skill and talent in rooting out history. And that is exactly what they need when it comes to a lot of the endeavors they go on."

"Alright…"

"Great, I'll take you there. Come on…" I stand and pull her up from her knees, I hadn't noticed before, but her clothes are tattered at the bottoms, "Have you been running all night long?" She nods a little.

"It was around sunset that the Abstergo people had come to the university. It had everyone all excited because they've recruited from our program before, so they were all hoping to be selected, because it makes a very appealing opportunity to finish school with all expenses paid by Abstergo… But my professor was refusing them at every turn. Then I heard them shouting at her about my research and that's when everyone else cleared out. But I couldn't just leave her, but then she spotted me and mouthed to run… I hesitated but when she did it again, I ran." _Poor girl, it's well after midnight now._

"Your professor must really care about you to protect you like that… It sounds like she knows about the whole Abstergo business." I comment as we get to my bike and I pop the seat up to get the small spare helmet, "It isn't much, but it'll protect you." She puts it on and buckles it while I slide mine back on and reconnect it to my phone.

While Sefa's appearance may have doused the outward flames of my rage, I can still feel it like a wildfire staying alive over winter by burning through the root system of a grand forest. It's a rage that now simmers just beneath the surface. A rage I fully intend on using as a fuel to hunt for whichever of Abstergo's arrogant whelps was behind this.

"Hold on." I tell Sefa as she settles on the back end of the motorcycle.

I direct a call to Zeph before taking off towards the roads and back to the warehouse.

"Raea? That you?" He answers.

"Yeah. Change of plans. I'm on my way back, with a friend. She may be able to help us, but mostly she needs protection." I state briskly as we fly through the city that has been the Crossroads of the World.

"She? What happened?"

"I'll let you know when we get there. Get a computer set up. Mine should be in my bag. Have it ready for when we arrive." I tap the side of the helmet to cut off the call, he's gonna have words for me when I get back but for now they can wait.

We arrive at the warehouse with no problems. I suspect that the prize they found while graverobbing had them too excited to care about a young historian.

Sure enough though, Zeph was waiting next to some folding tables they must've set up with my computer open and powered up but still locked.

"You. Hung. Up. On me. After _ordering_ me to turn on your computer, which by the way has locks tighter than Fort Knox." He stands tapping his foot with irritation, "But who is this? And what did you find? Obviously not what you meant to." He gestures to Sefa as she removes her helmet and Aquilo strolls over to us.

"This is Sefa Aldemir, she was actually researching Yusuf and his role in what happened while the Byzantine-Templars were trying retake Constantinople for Byzantium from the clutches of the Ottomans." I say and she nods, "Sefa, these are my brothers, the twins, Zephyr," He nods at her, "And Aquilo." He steps up beside Zeph and looks around.

"Where is… You know…?" Lio cautiously asked.

"That's why I had you get my computer ready. Hey, Sefa, do you think you could give the run down on what happened to you and what we found? I need to get on finding out where they've gone." Sefa nods as I canter over to the computer and the three of them sit down on the camping chairs that Zeph and Aquilo managed to scrounge up. Sorting through it all, I find there had been three groups. One had gone to the university. Another had gone to Sefa's apartment. And the third had been on standby until one of the two groups had secured the location of the gravesite.

I clack on the keyboard and sift through everything. Video from cameras at the university, the roads around the graveyard, and after Sefa is done with the twins I have her tell me her address so I can watch them there too.

"Tsk." Following the two groups I find they had regrouped in the cemetery after the third had found what was presumably a considerably less dead looking assassin than they had expected. Then after they leave the cemetery, they split into two groups with two identical convoys of vehicles leaving the city different ways. Unwilling to draw this out any longer than necessary, I whip out my phone, I plug in a number, and it rings until I hear exactly the person I was hoping for.

"Hello? Who is this? It better not be some tele-market scammer." The cynical voice comes through.

"Shaun? Excellent. I need your help. I hope your close enough to a computer."

"Would this be Astraea then? My help? What on Earth could you need my help with?" I can already heard the clacking keys on the other end.

"Abstergo visited three locations in Istanbul earlier. A university, an apartment complex, and a graveyard. I have two teams leaving the city and I need you to follow this one." I send him the videos featuring the team I want him to track.

"And what exactly will this do?" He asks more out of formality than anything.

"A, it will help you level out some of your debt to me, and B, they've robbed an Assassin from his grave. They will likely use it to see if he's ever been in contact with any artifacts."

"Wait… They just up and took a whole _dead_ Assassin? Right out of his grave? Who?"

"Yes. Basically. And Yusuf Tazim."

"Well… That's not good, we already know he was in contact with Ezio Auditore, but he had a full career as an Assassin leading up to that as well. I'll get looking for this one."

"Thanks, Shaun. I'll let you know if I find anything first." I reply before hanging up.

I then focus all my energy on finding the other team, I gave Shaun the team that left via a highway, and I begin the hunt for the one that seems to have dropped off the face of the Earth.

At some point of the night—early morning? — Aquilo went to Sefa's apartment with her on the motorcycle to see if she could pick up some of her life. I had okayed it because I had looked at all the video feeds already and once the team from the university had found Yusuf's grave they all cleared out.

When they got back Lio had been talking about how her apartment had been completely ransacked. Top to bottom. They took anything that could have been research on Yusuf, including her computer and most of her reading material. She informed me that included within the confines of her research materials taken were the journal entries I had provided her from my journal. Not that she knows it was my journal in the first place.

"I told you earlier. It's fine, those were just scans of it anyway." I reassure as she slumps away again, she feels so guilty about losing it, but I imagine part of it is also her trying to cope with how her life has just been upended. And I wonder if I'm not at least at partly at fault for it. I imagine if she hadn't gotten those pages from me, she might've given up and gone for someone less interesting to Abstergo, like Sulieman.

Then Zeph sits down at the plain table across from eyes, not leaving my face.

"What is it now, Zeph?" I ask, he has been on my case all night long.

"You should get some rest. I know you were just passed out for almost two days, but seriously it's been almost forty-eight hours and you barely had forty minutes on the plane ride. And for the record I didn't buy that it was _just_ a nightmare." He whispers harshly at me without even pausing for breath.

"Have I ever told you that you can be too observant?" I say without taking my eyes away from the screen in front of me that is switching rapidly between lines of code and video feeds from various areas around Istanbul and near by towns and smaller cities.

"Yes. And don't think it got past me that you asked her to find help you find your boyfriend's grave and then paid her with scans of your journal." He teases.

"For the record, I also actually paid her in cash, and he wasn't just a boyfriend. We were handfasted. Just not married." I hear a clang behind me, and I look to see Sefa standing there wide-eyed just staring at me, she had just come from inside the sea can where we had set up a couple of cots and she _had_ been sleeping. The clang had been her dropping a metal water bottle on the edge of the sea can.

_Did she just hear me say that? Oh, for fuck's sake. Like I need more complications._

"I don't understand. 'Your boyfriend'? ' _Your_ journal'? That's impossible! I had experts look at those journal scans, and the letter of authenticity that you sent with them. They were legitimate. Even my professor was impressed with the quality of the preservation. They _can't_ have been yours!" She hysterically speaks at, at least, triple her usual speed and I just look across the table at Zeph. I raise my eyebrows and slowly shake my head back and forth. He just puts both his hands up. She begins to prattle on in rapid Turkish, mostly trying to convince herself that we're pulling her leg.

"That… Is…" I start, so cut off by Aquilo, also emerging from the sea can.

"Why not just tell her? She's a historian, right? Plus, it kills to tip toe around it all the time." I take a slow breath in and out to calm myself down.

"Just imagine—just for a moment— if you had to tip toe around it for ten thousand years! Oh, the horror!" I shake my hands on either side of my face for the full effect and Lio just narrows his eyes at me and Zeph snorts a little in attempt to hold in laughter. Sefa then snatches up my notebook next to me and opens it, her eyes widening as she looks at the writing from the perspective of a historian identifying similar, or in this case damn near identical, penmanship. Her hands tilt the notebook down before setting it back on the table.

"I read those entries enough to recognize how impossibly close your writing is to them. Earlier, you said you hadn't been fully truthful with me when we had met. But you also said that you didn't know until recently that your family were all Assassins. So what weren't you truthful about the first time? And then if it's really all true… How are these two your brothers? Are you a family of vampires or something?" She rattles off question after question as she sits down in the chair next to me, so I grab her shoulders.

"Look at me." Her eyes come up to meet mine, "Unlike how Zephyr and Aquilo make it seem, this is very privileged information." I shoot a look at the both of them, who immediately look away, "I am their sister, I don't really know what happened, but it happened. And I had to live for thousands of years to get back to this moment. Yes, I was the person that was supposedly married to Yusuf Tazim, no it wasn't actually a marriage. And his body has been taken by Abstergo. Now, I'm going to get back to finding where they took it, so please either hold onto your questions for later, or ask one of the buffoon set over there. I'm sorry for lying to you, but I think you'll see given the circumstances, why I did." I release her shoulders and turn back to the computer and restart my barrage of keystrokes in the hunt to find where they've taken Yusuf.

Almost right after that unwelcome scene I found a similar convoy arriving at a military style airstrip a fair distance outside the city. Then after nothing for another few hours, Zeph comes over and stands next to me with his arms crossed.

"It's now official. You are the only one of us who hasn't had any sleep yet. I bargained with myself that if you had made enough progress I'd let you continue. But you haven't, have you?" He asks and when I don't answer him he takes it as the truth, which is no. After all this time, it's like they erased all traces of whatever they did to leave Istanbul. "Alright. You said Shaun was also looking, right? Maybe you should ask him to look at both while you rest. You should also consider that maybe you're too close to this to see it clearly. Or perhaps that you are getting too close to exhaustion to figure it out. You. Are. Still. Human. And humans need rest." Then Aquilo steps up to my other side.

"I'm fine." I bite out harshly.

"We are your older brothers, and we are not afraid to use force if we have to. Now… Close up whatever it is your doing, we'll contact Shaun and ask him to look into both teams." Aquilo berates me. Then, just as though sheer mention of exhaustion summoned it, the screen doubles in my vision as I slump forward a little bit before catching myself, "See! Now. Rest."

"Fine." I seethe from behind clenched teeth. I click a few keys to close everything and shut the computer down. I close the lid of the laptop and stand up. Only, too fast. I wobble as I straighten my leg and almost fall backwards and Aquilo ends up having to steady me.

"Woah… Alright, that's that." Lio says as he pulls the chair away, scoops me up into his arms, and carries me to one of the cots inside the sea can, "You keep saying you're fine, but I'm not seeing it right now. You may be super-sister, but you're still our sister and you're not invincible. Please, take care of yourself. And before you say anything about me not knowing how much this means… I do know. I can see it in your eyes. Now, and _then_. Remember, I saw you with him through Ezio's eyes. Now. Get. Some. Sleep." As Aquilo walks away from me my eyes slide shut and I drift off into sleep.

* * *

_A family smiles and waves as I walk down the dirt path away from their home._

_The smiles are as bright as the sun._

_A group of soldiers all smack my shoulders after I saved them from a group of tigers that had been stalking the small troupe of unwitting Greek soldiers._

_Sharing stories around a fire. Such nights full of laughter and jokes._

_A fisher feeding me at night as payment for protecting him while he crossed the edges of known pirate territory._

_Meeting the families of some trainee soldiers I'd saved._

_The Greek sailors from the triremes who drink all night with me to celebrate a decisive victory against a fleet of pirates trying to gain more territory._

_Endless nights of drowning in laughter._

_The whole town gathering to thank me for fending off a bandit attack._

_The bandits trying to ambush me in a canyon later, only to all be slaughtered. Blood paints the canyon walls. The scream of a child who comes across the scene echoes in the surrounding chasms._

_Happiness cannot last forever._

_Sailors turning their backs to me and sneering as I approach._

_The fishers focusing a little too much on their haul when before they had welcomed me. The missing jokes and laughter leave a stinging cold in the air._

_Soldiers keeping their distance from me on the roads, their gazes avoiding me._

_The smiling family rushing inside their small home at the sight of me on their dirt path._

_The taunts of people as I enter towns and the sting of rocks hitting my skin._

_The palpable fear in the air wherever I go._

_The jeering._

_The insults._

_The curses._

_My decision to leave that place, only to be headed off by the Greek army._

_The army whose leaders had listened to the fears of the people living under the tyranny of a cursed demon escaped from Tartarus who sows death wherever she walks. Who can steal the light from a day, and the warmth from the sun just by looking your way._

_They flank me within the high walled canyon to cut of any escape._

_The feeling of them surrounding me and the perfect strategy they had devised to exhaust me._

_The sensation of falling to my knees in exhaustion because those soldiers I know are bearing weapons against me._

_The finality of waking up enclosed in a box while they shout their victory to the heavens and jeer downwards to the Tartarus as they cast me off into the depths of the sea._

_And the heartrending ache in my chest from not knowing if anyone cares enough to try and find me as my world gets colder and darker._

_The relentless fear of not knowing how long I will be condemned to this dismal prison._

_The forlorn hope that maybe it will be long enough to be forgotten entirely by the world of man._

_And at last, the desolate realization that they were right._

_I am a demon._

_A monster._

* * *

I shoot up from the cot so abruptly that the whole thing topples over causing a harsh metallic crash to resound throughout the whole sea can.

I just sit there looking but only seeing the flashes of swords until there's a sharp sting across my cheek.

I blink a few times to see Zeph's eyes full of worry.

"Are you okay? What happened?" He asks quietly.

"I'm… Fine." I whisper, more to try to convince myself than anything. Then Zephyr hugs me tightly.

"You are not fine. You didn't even respond to me until I slapped you. Please… Talk to me." His voice sounding desperate. I sigh… _I'm not fine this time._

"You were right it wasn't just a dream… How long was I asleep?" I leaned away from him and just sit among the toppled bed things for a few minutes to center myself.

"Almost four hours. Do you want to talk?" Zeph cautiously approaches after I stop talking.

"I think so… But… Remember when I said this wasn't all sunshine and rainbows?" I look at him and he sits down at the edge of my bed mess.

"Yeah. History isn't exactly all fun and games either, what's bothering you? You can tell me, but I've realized I need to be patient, you've held all of this alone for so long that you need to learn how to share your pain sometimes. But I'll always be ready to hear you when you do want to talk." He always sounded so wise, and even now to the effective immortal his words bring a surprising comfort.

"It was around the time of Alexander the Great's rule. Near what is now the Caspian Sea. I had been too conspicuous in my heroics, too often, and for too long. I imagine people had become wary of me already but then a child saw me after I had killed some bandits that had ambushed me. Then People began to hate and fear me for the power I evidently commanded with fighting, they were scared that I was a demon escaped from Tartarus trying to gain their trust before taking them all to Tartarus to exchange them for my own freedom or something." I pause and take a breath trying to calm my erratic heart, Zephyr just sits and waits patiently, "The people of the towns went to the army and the army acted, soon soldiers I had rescued previously were turning their blades on me, and they had surrounded me completely. They were switching out their comrades so there was always a fresh group fighting me. This continued for hours until I was utterly spent. I had tried to run, to escape, but the army had cornered me completely. At the end, I had collapsed. When I woke up I could hear them shouting, cheering, and the general of the army was making a speech. He was jeering at me, saying that Zeus had favoured them, that rather than my not wanting to kill them it had been Zeus' favour that got them out of the conflict with the demon without a single death." I swallow. And I bite my lip.

"Where did they take you?" He asks quietly and I take another breath.

"They had put me in a wooden box. They had carved words on the inside pleading to the gods and the heavens to return the demon to the custody of Hades and his jail. Then… They pushed the box with me inside into the sea." I run a hand through my hair snagging a few knots on the way through the long tresses, "I remember it getting darker and colder… I remembered all the faces of the soldiers who had done this, the soldiers who I had saved, the soldiers who I had shared meals with, the soldiers I had drank with and laughed whole nights away with. I thought about why they did this. And I'd had a realization just before I fell into a deep sleep… The realization that they had done it because they could see what I could not. That I was a monster. At that moment I had fallen asleep… that was the first time I had ever called myself a monster. Leading up to that there had been many other remarkable people the descendants of the hybrids… Like Kassandra, who had shared something of a spotlight with me. Who, just by being there, made my existence less offensive to regular people. It took a long time for that box to be broken by the sea and release me back to the surface."

"And you're dreaming about that? Being trapped in that box sinking to the bottom of the sea…" Zephyr breaths the realization of what time has happened.

"Yeah, for me, it had been that… Event that had turned my world dark. I slowly lost interest in almost anything. I had gone to the mountains where Tajikistan is now. I stayed there for a few centuries. Then I followed my instincts back to Europe and ran into Kassandra in Rome. Kassandra did her best to help whenever we met up, but I think she knew there was nothing she could do to help me… Not really. Because she was more similar to me than other people so her accepting me wouldn't have made a difference. I let a lot of people die in front of me for a long time. If anything what happened _made_ me a monster. After some more centuries, I had grown away from what happened and let myself start mixing with people more often. Art was something I had been desperately clinging to for that time, but I had started to lose it too… It was slow though, and I hadn't realized it, until I saw Leonardo drawing one afternoon in Venice. Leonardo had helped me bring art back into my life… And Yusuf… He cleared away all the rest of what I had become, looked at me, and still was able to smile and say he loved me."

"It was easy to see how important this is to you… But now I can see why you were so desperate to get here… Because you've been trapped in a box without air and Yusuf…" Zeph starts.

"Was in that position. And now, I find out that because I was stupid, he is in Abstergo's hands. I need to get him out of there. I don't think I will be able to really rest properly until I can get him away from Abstergo. This is mostly my fault. He is going to live for I don't know how long now, and _that_ is entirely my fault. I won't be surprised if he finds it in him to—" _Hate me._ I had meant to say it, but my voice couldn't make the words. I have loved Yusuf all this time and to think that what I've done is enough to make someone hate… It's too much for my heart to bear. Zephyr puts a hand on my shoulder.

"Hey, don't go guessing what he is going to feel. You can't know that just yet. We'll get him back. And then you can ask him yourself what he thinks of what you _inadvertently_ did." Zephyr stands up and holds his hand out to help me up, "Now, Shaun said he had an update for us just before you woke up. Let's go see what he has."

"Why didn't you lead with that?" I ask bitterly.

"Because you looked like a ghost. And apparently you had a dream about being drowned in a box, you looked like you needed to talk more than anything." He smiles a little before we walk out of the sea can into the bright warehouse.

We open up my computer and I open a video line with Shaun, he picks up a squints at all of us.

"Well… You lot have seen better days, haven't you? You all look like you've been trampled by a herd of wild animals." His face as straight as ever.

"Ah, ever the candid, glad to hear you haven't changed at all in the last week or so Shaun." Lio quips back.

"I hear you've got an update?" I ask.

"Yes, after your caretakers asked me to do even more work, I couldn't find anything about a coffin, a cadaver, or anything of the sort." He pauses because he knows he's got us, "I did however find something about a coma patient being moved to a special facility in Vancouver. But… That definitely does _not_ fall into the category of moving an Assassin that has been dead for five hundred years."

"That's probably it…" I say. And Sefa can no longer hold back.

"But a coma patient is definitely a living person. Not someone who was under the ground until only a day ago." Sefa blurts out in frustration. Probably still grappling mentally with learning about my situation.

"Oh, I see a new face? Does everyone get to know about Assassins now? I must have missed that bulletin." Shaun chides.

"Oh, a new person? That's great!" Rebecca's voice comes over the chat as she comes into view just behind Shaun and waves at Sefa.

"Hi, new person!" Sefa waves back slowly.

"Shaun and Rebecca this is Sefa. She was the history PhD student who uncovered Yusuf Tazim's burial site. Abstergo tried to nab her but her professor managed to help her get away." Sefa gives a little bow as I move slightly to the side.

"Pleasure. Regardless we are still up one live person in a coma and down one five-hundred-year-old dead Assassin body. Care to fill us in?" Shaun clips right back to where we were.

"That is a long and incredibly involved story. Next time we see you, we'll explain. Can you send any information on this facility you found our way?"

"Absolutely! I managed to fish up a basic floor plan. It seems that it is in a taller building that uses a few of the higher floors for Abstergo's… Less public research. These floors don't actually show up on the floorplan of the building…" Rebecca goes into a basic run down of the facility on the other side of the world from us that supposedly has Yusuf inside, essentially right back where we started.

Then we prepare to go there ourselves.


	24. The Hunt

With Silvija's help we got to an airport in Spain. Zeph used the email network ever popular within the Brotherhood, Hephaestus I think it's called, to let mom and Venus know how things are going and with the update that we'll be going to Vancouver. Silvija had also at that point taken Sefa to meet up with our mom and Venus, to get her sorted out with some cover identity in order to escape Abstergo's attention.

From Spain, we took a flight straight to Vancouver.

Once we had landed, Zeph found a… Venomous email from our mother. Stating that she was displeased with how we had just up and left the continent without coming to get them, or even contacting them directly, and that they would be leaving as soon as they were able. This email also stated that our father would be in the vicinity of the west coast and would be joining us at some point.

Hearing that made me realize how _not_ ready I am to tell my dad. We had always been close while I was growing up, until I had lost interest in all the things that he wanted to share with me. Namely, everything that would have eventually led to me becoming an Assassin. It had been after that that we had drifted apart. He started to take more jobs—which I now assume would've all been for the Brotherhood—more often and was home less and less as I went through high school and subsequently graduated.

Now I'm in a café across the street from our mark. The sun is setting already, but we've now made all of our preparations. The guys are using alternate means to infiltrate the building. Mom had wanted us to wait for dad, but I don't want them to learn any more about Yusuf than they probably already have since they landed while we were just leaving Spain. Which has given them three days with him at this facility with a day and a half being the time we used to scrape together a rough plan of action. So we are going in now. I'm currently in the guise of a company worker, well dressed but not extravagantly so, with my hair tied into a tidy low bun. Which seemed to be the look of a great many of the woman coming and going from the building over the last day. I have the two bangles on, one could argue that they look exceptionally nice, but in current times costume jewellery can look very convincing. I opted to leave the hidden blade behind at our fallback location, which is a motel just in White Rock, near the southern edge of the city. As lovely as it is, the bulk of the hidden blades from back then is too obvious now.

Shaun managed to find and duplicate the frequency to gain access to the building through the entrance, so we fabricated a tag quickly for the look, but I will be using a fresh, blank smartphone to emit the wireless signal that will get me in. The other two are using alternate methods to get in. And luckily for us, Rebecca agreed to be our computer person for the adventure, carefully disguising our presence in the building. With Shaun naturally present as well… The price? Being let in on the whole story. She already knows most of it from supervising Aquilo in Ezio's memories, but this promise is to go further in depth with the details. This was not my idea, but Zeph made the decision on the fly, knowing that we would need some kind of technical assistance and we didn't readily have an extra person capable of what we would need. In our correspondence I learnt that Layla had gone on with the two of them. And I did manage to convince them to keep my whole business secret from her.

With so many people suddenly knowing my anxiety has been rising. And with Layla being the person Kassandra had been waiting for she must have the staff, and by extension, Aletheia. Who, I admit to being wary about at the best of times, if only that's how Astraeus and Eos tried to keep me with most Isu… Not that it helped with the whole Ilios situation.

I check the time on my phone, take a last swig of the tea on my table and make like I'm going back to work at the building across with my briefcase and everything. I canter to emphasize the look of someone who has taken a little too long of a break.

Walking into the building I can see the security team keeping their attention on me, but over the years I have managed to get highly skilled in acting as though I belong in a place. So once my 'badge' scans me in, they cast their eyes back to the doors to watch for miscreants.

I stroll over to the hall area where there are four elevators, probably to ensure the most efficient delivery of all workers to respective floors at rush times.

"Oh, shoot. I'm late…" I whisper to myself, the code I chose to let the others know that I got in, and I begin to tap my foot on the floor as I wait for the elevator to come and take me higher. I watch the lit-up sign above the elevator that had been at the top of the building and was counting seconds on how long it takes. As I watch the numbers change and the listen to the air whooshing through the elevator shaft, I can hear it passing the floors, but those sounds essentially stop for a few of the number changes on the elevator sign. It had started at the twenty-fourth floor and stopped at the seventeenth, the space between those floors hadn't made any sound of going past doors… So somewhere in those six floors are where the floors that may hold Yusuf. But by the evident lack of doors, it could prove difficult to enter that space.

I gaze up at the high ceilings of the lobby space of the building, with plants and water features that are popular among many of the showier buildings in Vancouver. You'd never think there would be mostly illegal science things happening in a building that looks so executive from the ground floor. But I suppose that is sort of Abstergo's thing. Nothing looks illegal from the outside. It all looks clean cut and tidy, it's only when you take a closer look that you see how it's just like white paint covering up a burnt building.

An elevator behind me dings and I turn to get on it, but a small crowd of official looking people emerge from the elevator. I could tell they had been chatting, but they hush as they notice me waiting to get on the elevator. Noticing that all the people I see get off of it all wear the ring of the Templars causes me to feel a little antsy. Knowing that the people with rings are at the very least higher ups in Abstergo, I dip my head down to acknowledge them as they pass, hoping to pass as a no-name worker. I get on the elevator after they walk towards the building's exit. Rebecca's voice comes over the com in my ear, hidden by my hair.

"Alright, get off at the seventh floor, then to the right there is an office area, head in there and I'll loop the feed for the whole floor and all the elevators. The guys are just getting in. I still haven't narrowed down where the hidden floors are but once I'm into the power grid I'll be able to find them." I pull my phone out and write up a fake text, saying it out loud as I compose it to get the message to Rebecca.

"The cab fare should be between seventeen and twenty-four dollars…" I slip the phone into the pocket of the business slacks I'm wearing.

"Gotcha, once I'm in that's where I'll look." She confirms understanding my message.

"Thank you… I'll get there soon." I slide the phone back into my pocket and then the elevator dings as I arrive at the seventh floor and I exit the elevator. I go into the office space using the phone and badge combo again. Then I go to where no cameras can see me until Rebecca gives the okay.

"Alright, all video for the elevators and seventh floor is now looping." I step out of the office and back to the elevators. "Actually, I think there may be power access in the next utility closet on your left." I look and see a closet there with an electric lock system separate from the badge system we've been using. I walk over to it and place my hand on the lock and overload the lock slightly, but just enough to pop the door open and let me in, but at a low enough amount that it shouldn't look like anything changed on the inside.

"That was really smooth, what did you do there?" Rebecca asks over the comm.

"Classified for now. Don't worry, that's a part of the info pack you'll receive on Zeph's promise." I reply freely this time since the camera's feed are looped anyway. I look around and sure enough there is an electrical conduit in the back of the space. I walk over to it and pull the small device out of my pocket. I then attach it to one of the free plugs and tap the button.

"Excellent. I am gaining access now… And in." She certainly works fast; I leave the closet and go back to the elevators and press the button for up.

Once one arrives I enter and remove the business attire to reveal the athletic clothes beneath and pull the deep hooded, dark green sweater out of the plain briefcase, and put it on. I stuff the business clothes into the briefcase and then pop the vent that leads into the elevator shaft. I climb up and sit at the edge watching the floors' doors go by and place the briefcase on the top of the elevator.

"Hmm… I can't see exactly which floors, but it looks like there are four floors that appear to be set up on a separate energy draw from the rest of the building. There are only two floors above them drawing power from the same source as the rest of the building… So your floors will most likely be the ones between eighteen and twenty-two. Also, the guys are in from the top of the building." Rebecca briefs me as the floors in question arrive.

"I see the floor numbers and there are no doors for floors eighteen through twenty-two." I mention, it is exactly as I heard it down below.

"Alright, stay on the elevator to twenty-three and get off there, I've already looped the feed there for the boys."

I slide back into the elevator and wait until it dings at floor twenty-three. When the doors open Aquilo and Zephyr are standing there waiting.

"About time you got up here." Zeph jokes.

"Yeah… You took ages." Lio quips along with him.

"Ha, ha… Very funny." I reply as I step out of the elevator, "There's no access to the floors in that elevator. There must be another way in. But before we do that I want to try to feel if he's even down there." Lio squints his eyes and raises his hands.

"But how?" He asks with a tone of utter confusion. And I just sit down for a moment to really focus, "What—" I look to see Zeph shaking his head at Lio, and I close my eyes and concentrate.

There are some security guards posted at a few locations in the floors below us, but it looks like there aren't many people besides them present. Then I see it. A flickering golden figure, as though it were made of tiny particles grown from my power. There are a few people around where he is right now, but judging by their movements, it looks like they are finishing up for the night.

"Wow… I see it… That has to be him, I've never seen my own power from this perspective before, but I can't think of anything else it could be. But we still don't have a way in… Rebecca, have you found anything yet?"

"Maybe… There is an area in the southwest corner of each floor about the size of a commercial elevator. I can't be sure though; the area isn't labelled at all on the floor plans."

"We'll go take a look. You said southwest?" Zephyr confirms over the comms.

"Yep, on these plans, it just looks like storage space, but the spaces on each floor line up perfectly."

"Let's go." I walk in the direction Rebecca mentioned, through hallways with the occasional door into an office with the names on them. Under each name is a line of abbreviated letters. To an ordinary person these would look like titles from doctorates and such, but I can tell that they are really meant to denote the person's rank within the Order of Templars. I imagine that many of these offices go mostly unused and are only here as a formality to the higher ranks of the Order.

After a few minutes of turns in the halls, sure enough, there is a storage space there. The door has a similar lock to the electrical panel on the seventh floor, so we get past that easily enough. And inside this storage space is the unmistakable door to a commercial sized elevator. We go up to the elevator only to find that the door can only be open by passing a biometric scanner.

"Rebecca, you were right, there is a commercial sized elevator in here, but it's locked using a biometric scanner." Zeph says as he looks carefully at the device, "It looks like if I meddle with it, it'll only give us away."

"That's how you know the good stuff is accessed through here. Can you get one of your devices near it?" I place the burner smartphone next to it, "Perfect… Wow, this has some serious security on it. I think the most I can do is open the door; it won't call the elevator to you. If I try more, it will more likely get you discovered."

"That's more than enough." I say as she pops open the door and we pull it the rest of the way open. And we freeclimb down to the next door which Rebecca pops as we arrive to it.

The facility on the other side screams laboratory with every single inch. The clean walls, the signs at every door specifying what kinds of chemicals could be inside. I use my extended version of Eagle Vision to maneuver our way through the corridors while not being seen by any of the sparse security patrols.

Then we arrive at the section where he is.

We are a floor higher, looking down into the space, I can see one side has all of the computers and monitoring equipment and in the middle they have him laying on a sort of examination table.

The sight almost causes me to catch my breath, but I manage to hold it together… By the skin of my teeth.

Aquilo waves me over to where he found a way down to the space.

"I'm going to go see if we can get a decently secure way out. The elevator shaft won't work if we're carrying someone unconscious." I nod before going to follow Aquilo down to the examination looking space.

I just about rush to him when I spot the video cameras. I stop myself, causing a jab to my heart. He is so close, but I have to deal with this first. I go over to the computers and activate them all.

Once I weasel my way into the system, I comb through the contents. Mostly them doing nervous system tests, seeing eyes dilate, checking for all the things you would look for in a regular recovering coma patient. But they're also intentionally keeping him under. Wise decision on their part, considering he was an incredibly skilled Assassin.

I delete everything. Lab reports, video footage, notes on his progress, and any trace I can find hinting at the power behind all this. Mostly they assume it is due to the influence of a Piece of Eden. Which would be wrong, but an admirable guess. Considering the Isu did create more than one object that resulted in effective immortality for humans. They never were able to quite manage the feat for themselves though. After I finish erasing the research, I leave a little surprise in some coding to nuke the whole system if someone so much as breathes on it wrong. They will regret this.

Then I rush over to him.

He looks, almost exactly the same, if I had to say any difference it would be that he actually looks a little bit younger… He had been forty-five when he died, there had been some silver hairs sprinkled in his black. But now, I can't see any silver hair at all. His black curls look the same as the first time I met him. His hair doesn't look much longer, which makes sense because my hair hadn't grown much in the times I had been in the dormant state.

He is wearing minimal clothing, probably so that it wouldn't get in the way of whatever tests they were doing. But from what I can see his muscle mass is down. Another similarity between his hibernation and my own. Whenever it happens my body very slowly uses whatever it can, just like a bear that gets fat to hibernate over the winter.

Aquilo is already working at removing the restraints and has already removed the IV drip inducing Yusuf's continued sleep.

I reach my hand out slowly, afraid to touch and have him feel cold. To have it feel like the last time I did this, right before they buried him. To have his face feel dead beneath my fingertips.

Tears sting my eyes as I hover my hand over his face, already feeling the warmth of his skin. I place my hand on his face, against his cheek.

"My light…" I whisper, barely able to believe it, as a tear drops onto his face next to my hand. I see his eyelids begin to react, already the sedative is wearing off.

"We need to move." Aquilo says as he puts a hand on my back.

"Yeah… Do you think you can carrying him on your back?" I ask hopefully.

"Honestly, I kind of expected to be the pack mule this go, you are the tank here after all."

"Hey now… I'm closer to DPS— but yeah— I'll be carrying our team." I laugh a little trying to keep myself from getting too distracted by the man I thought dead. The man who had been the center of my whole world when he had died.

Aquilo hefts Yusuf's arms around his shoulders and I help get Yusuf onto Aquilo's back so we can make our escape. We begin to walk carefully through the halls, when we come across Zeph, who waves us his direction. He leads the way to some kind of emergency escape stairs, and we go in.

"There are only a few exits in this emergency exit stairwell, we have to be as fast as possible because they'll probably guess we've taken this way…" Zeph starts to go down.

"Would it be worth it to go to the top and then down in the regular emergency stairs? Or would that take too much time?" I consider out loud. My gut says to go up first. But I'm not the only one here. Nor am I the one doing the most strenuous work, so I have to consider Lio and Zeph.

"It's not a bad idea, but with what is essentially dead weight, I don't think that it is in our best interest…" Zeph ponders the thought looking up the stair well.

"My vote is to go down, I can carrying him, but not indefinitely." Aquilo adds.

"Fair point. Let's go." I conclude as I begin to canter down the stairs giving the stairs upward one last look before fully committing.

We go down, winding through the cement fire escape stairs for ten minutes without coming across a single door to enter or exit the space. When an alarming begins to blare.

"Shit." Aquilo curses.

"I think it's safe to say they've discovered their lack of five-hundred years not-so-dead Assassin." Zeph comments.

"No shit, Sherlock." I lash back at him.

Then after another minute at a slightly faster pace we find a door that supposedly goes onto the fourteenth floor. I open the door to see a line of Abstergo agents gun aimed right at me. Then they fire and I slam the door shut. I break the hydraulics on the door and jam the bar at the top preventing them from opening the door from that side. _I should have been more cautious._

"Fuck. They've got us. They knew we would have to take the emergency stairs down." I curse my self for not pushing harder to go up first. It had only been a few floors. I begin to hear thumping in the stair well above us and some shouting below.

"And they know exactly where all the exits to it are. Maybe we should have bit the bullet and gone up first." Zeph says, "But you definitely didn't have the door closed before they shot. Let me see."

"I'm fine." I respond to him curtly beginning to walk down again.

"Oh no you don't. Show me." Zephyr grabs my shoulder and turns me around.

"They were just using tranquilizers. I'm fine." I open my hand to reveal the darts that I had already pulled off my chest and arm. Six in total.

"That is _not_ fine. We can't have our main fighter fall over from tranquilizers." Aquilo remarks.

"It _is_ fine. As long as I don't take too many of them, my metabolism will be able to counteract the sedative before it can do anything. It would be a different story if these were elephant tranquilizers. But they're not. I am fine. We need to figure out what to do. They're coming at us from above and below." I think on it as quickly as I can.

"We could always toss your boyfriend down to see who he might crush…" Aquilo jokes before having his foot promptly stomped on by Zephyr.

"I think our best option at this point is to go out here." I suggest.

"Excuse me? Go out here? To the guys with the tranq guns ready to fire at us?" Aquilo's voice gets more doubtful with each word.

"Actually… I agree." Zeph says after thinking it over.

"What?" Aquilo asks, completely dumbfounded.

"Well, they're coming at us from above and below. As it is, our best bet is to take on these guys. Rather, have Raea take on these guys. Then we can get to either the elevators, the other emergency stairs or we split up and take both. Either way, once we're out of this stairwell, our escape options expand. Meaning that they will have to divide themselves to make the best chances of catching us." Zeph reasons out why my suggestion would work.

"Exactly. I will take point, because then if any of them land a shot with the tranquilizers they're less likely to cripple me and there by less likely to cripple us." I inform them.

"And how many do you think you can your body take and still deal with it fast enough?" Aquilo enquires.

"At least, dozen maybe a few more than that. If I get too many, I'll send you guys ahead and get them to lower the guns and stall them long enough to let my body process it. Even just a few minutes should be enough to let me get away. But we can't afford to have either of you take any. If it comes down to it, use Yusuf as a shield. He's already under from the sedatives so it'll be fine. And I'm sure he would agree too." I lay out exactly what I'm thinking.

"Alright, but I don't like the idea of us going ahead even to have you stall them for a while. Even if it's just a couple of minutes. _Please_ , let's try to not let it get to that…" Zephyr pleads.

"Okay, we'll try. But you have to accept that I can make my own decisions, I know my limits. Trust me." I counter.

"As long as you trust us." Zephyr responds and Aquilo nods.

"Alright, stand to the sides of the doorway, I'm going to rush them and as we already concluded two dead weights is unacceptable, so wait for me to call you out." I focus for a moment to get a handle on how many are out there, it seems like about six. They're good shots. They each hit their mark. I look at Zephyr and then Aquilo, "Close your eyes."

I kick the door off its hinges, and it slides across the floor while I use my power to create a blinding flash, making it seem as though we set off an explosive of some kind. While the Abstergo agents are crippled the flash, I launch myself into the fray. Focusing more on speed than finesse, I go for the simple hits with decent force behind them to knock each one out and then move on to the next. Once I'm done I stand up and admire my handiwork before calling to the twins.

"Alright, let's move." I call into the stair well. The two of them emerge and their jaws drop.

"That was six guys. Fully outfitted. With tranquilizer guns. And you crippled them all in less than three minutes." Aquilo assess the scene quickly and just kind of stares for a moment.

"Now, that just sounds impossible… But I just watched it over the feed from the cameras. Which I have already erased. We don't need them knowing you can fight like that. Although, I guess with what I already know it almost makes sense." Rebecca's voice comes over the comms. Shit.

"What even was that? It was like some kind of heavenly angel raining destructive vengeance on them… I almost feel sorry for them. Almost." Shaun's voice pokes into the feed, his astonishment clear to hear.

"That will be part of the info package we promised." Zephyr says as we begin to move through the floor.

" _You_ promised." I clarify.

"I should hope so." Shaun says with finality.

With me using my ability to scout ahead so we can avoid most of the patrols looking for us and Rebecca feeding directions, we move rather quickly to the lobby of elevators on this floor. By avoiding most of the patrols, we allow my body some time to deal with the first six darts of tranquilizer. We decide to go for the elevator approach and with Rebecca's help, we manage to get all the elevators to the floor at once and have them all going down at the same time.

Hoping to maximize the confusion we have Yusuf sitting in one next to mine, Aquilo above one across the hall from us, Zephyr riding above the other next to Aquilo's, and myself out in the open of one on the opposite side from them. That makes all four elevators used, forcing them to have people ready at each elevator. With the main threat—me— in front, Aquilo and Zephyr should be able to take down a few Abstergo goons while I deal with the rest, then it's a short run to the door and onto the street. Once we're on the street it's a matter of weaving between buildings to get to one of the two vehicles we planted earlier in the day for our escape.

Of course, this plan is for the possibility that they've had the time to amass a large number of people in the hall. Luckily, they didn't amass a whole bunch for this. Unfortunately, there are more than a few though… By my count using my power, I'd say fifteen. They have two at each elevator door ready to shoot, with two ready on each side holding radios with guns at their sides. That means they're ready to call the ones surely waiting at the stair wells to come over once they confirm we're here. We will have to be fast and I will have to keep close track of how many tranquilizers get me.

"Alright, I am going to start burning my connections. They're onto the fact that someone is helping. Best of luck you guys!" Rebecca says over the comms, Lio and Zeph both thank her.

"Thank you." I say softly before I hear her click out.

As planned, Aquilo and Zephyr's elevator doors open first, revealing empty elevators. So the four facing that direction turn to help the four between Yusuf's elevator and mine.

Then Yusuf's and mine both ding.

And without giving them more than a few seconds to react I launch myself out the door the moment it's wide enough to accommodate me. I manage to get two down before they begin to shoot.

One, two.

Three.

Four…

Take down three more guards.

Five, six, and seven.

Then the guys at each end keep shooting into the fray. Without hitting their own people. Damn they are good shots. As I thin them out it is getting easier move, but I have had to get between a couple of shots and my brothers.

Eight, nine, and ten. Shit. I'm starting to feel the sedatives in the tranq darts.

I take down one of the guys at the end and the two guys leading up to him.

I take shot number eleven and I turn to face the last two, but at that point I turn to see Aquilo and Zephyr standing over the last two guys.

Aquilo goes to grab Yusuf and we are on our way again, but I can hear the others also arriving.

"You guys will have to go ahead. I've taken almost too many. I can stall them for a few minutes with a bluff while you guys get away." I say as I pull the chain from around my neck, add my ring to Yusuf's and place it around Yusuf's neck. I remove the two bracelets that are my swords, I hadn't ended up needing them anyway. I remove the comm from my ear. I also pull my phone out of my pocket. Then I put all of them in the pocket of Aquilo's sweater and when I look at Yusuf his eyes have begun to open.

The same stunning glacial blue that I remember.

"Yusuf." I whisper to him.

"Najmay…?" He whispers back to me. I put a hand on his cheek briefly.

"Yes, my light…" I move my hand to his dark curls and peck his forehead as his eyes close again, "Go… Go, now." I say to them as we see the flood of agents coming from the two sides where the stairs must come out.

"You get out." Zephyr orders as he leads Aquilo around the lobby and out of the building. I run with them a while before I couple of darts begin to fly our way. I take shots twelve and thirteen as Lio and Zeph go out the door. I frantically look around for ways to stall them further and find a metal fence that can come down to prevent people from entering by breaking the windows after hours.

I race up to it and leap to grasp it. Then I pull down with all my weight and bring the whole grate sliding down. I races and get it jammed in position until the group of gun toting agents surround me.

"Well. Well. Well… I am pleasantly surprised to see this." I hear a familiar slimy voice coming from the second-floor overlook area above me, "I was expecting some kind of move from the Assassins, but this seems like it was all rather… Rogue. It's a shame that you ensured their escape. We'll just have to find him again. Shouldn't be too hard, a five-hundred-year-old man shouldn't be able to get too far… Even with the help from a couple of amateur Assassins." I look up and see the figure of Zachariah Moore strolling to the stairs to come down to me. All while his goons have me surrounded guns trained on me loaded with more tranquilizers of course, "But it does please me to see you here, I have been chasing you around after all…"

"You've been chasing me around? Whatever for? And what do you mean? Five-hundred years old? That's impossible." I ask each question slowly and more spaced out to draw out my time, my body is already breaking down the sedatives from the other darts. I just need a little longer, then I will be able to get up and past them to that second-floor balcony overlook that Moore just came down from. Then from there a simple dash to a window and out. And alone I won't have to act as a shield for anyone so I can simply dodge the darts instead of taking them full on.

"Less impossible than you might think apparently. Those Who Came Before were incredible after all." He starts darkly before cheering his tone up, "And why of course, I've been chasing you. You are my niece after all. And what do you owe the Assassins? A sloppy rescue effort? They did fail the first time of course. Leaving you to find your family alone…" _So they did buy that I didn't have any help at all._ "I am sorry we spooked you then though… It hadn't been my intention. I had brought them with me because I had expected the Assassins to attack us. And they did. Eight of my people were attacked on _your_ rooftop after we had gone after you. Simply because they failed to get to you first. They are just so violent." I listen as Zachariah spins his tale, "I don't imagine your mother told you anything after I met you, did she?"

"Only that you endangered Mesonyx and that your parents had long since disowned you… Oh and that apparently there was a restraining order that you violated by approaching me in that café." He clicks his tongue and sighs as he reaches the bottom of the stairs.

The sedatives aren't quite out of my system yet… But if I can play like I am been dragged along in this then maybe I can buy a few extra minutes.

"See, even then she stretched the truth. If there had been a restraining order what use was it to constantly move you all around? See? It just doesn't add up does it?" I narrow my eyes at him, his lies only getting thicker by the second, "But they've already begun to taint your mind against us… I can see it in your eyes. The defiance of the freedom that adores chaos. I had hoped we could do this in a civilized manner, but I don't imagine you'll just come along, will you?"

"I don't make a habit of just going along with people who are using threats to get what they want." I hiss. I must have taken more of the darts than I thought… But a few more minutes and I'll be able to hazard taking a couple more and still get away.

"A pity." He answers curtly.

Then a shadow drops down beside me, I look to see Nyx, my oldest sister. I feel a little at ease by it, and at the same time worried. She hasn't learnt the truth yet, but if we're going to get out of here she'll have to. I turn to keep her at my back. I also need to find a new way out…

"Don't worry." She whispers, "I'm here to help."

Then I feel a stabbing at my neck, I turn and hop away from her to see Mesonyx holding a syringe, now empty in her hand as the world begins to swim before my eyes, it's too much sedative all at once…

I fall forward and she catches me.

"We're going to help you… It's okay." She says as she lays me on the ground.

Then everything goes black around me.

And the world disappears.


End file.
